


If I got rid of my demons (I'd lose my angels)

by multi_fandom_crazy_fangirl



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Unplanned Pregnancy, because Felicity was totally banging Tommy, does Tommy's death require a warning?, inspired by trollenheim's comment, pregnancy trope
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-13
Updated: 2015-10-23
Packaged: 2018-03-22 16:49:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 30,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3736360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/multi_fandom_crazy_fangirl/pseuds/multi_fandom_crazy_fangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by MG's answer and a pregnancy prompt on tumblr. </p><p>Tommy and Felicity start a friends with benefits arrangement the night he breaks up with Laurel. Dying while trapped under a beam at CNRI during the Undertaking, Tommy finds out Felicity is pregnant, and has Oliver promise him to take care of her and the baby. </p><p>It's the same old cliche of pretending to be together, raising a kid together, and falling in love somewhere along the line.</p><p>ON UNOFFICIAL HIATUS TILL THE AUTHOR'S EXAMS ARE OVER.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, everyone! I'm Cat, and this is my first work in this fandom. 
> 
> This is just sometimes that has been going around my head the past few weeks. My friend thought it was a good idea and wanted me to write it. I've taken a few liberties with the timeline, since it is AU. 
> 
> I may not be regular with updates, because writing on a computer is not easy for me. I prefer pen and paper. But please do read it and let me know your thoughts.

Felicity Smoak met Tommy Merlyn for the first time the day Helena Bertinelli came back to town. She had bandaged his wrist for him. He thanked her by berating her for helping his best friend in his mission.

“What he is doing is unlawful, but he has really helped this city,” she had told him. He scoffed at that.

They kept running into each other at Verdant. Tommy realized Felicity was a really good listener. They texted each other a lot, mostly about how Tommy disapproved of her participation in his former best friend’s night-time activities. But he loved talking with her in person. She rambled, a lot, and made unintentional innuendos, but she also made him smile. She was one person who seemed untouched by Oliver Queen’s darkness.

She found him at Verdant one night. Oliver and Digg had had a fight which ended with Digg leaving the team. Oliver had gone on patrol, and Felicity decided to update her systems before leaving for the night. 

She found him by the empty bar after the club was closed, drinking Tequila straight out of the bottle. 

She approached him carefully. "Tommy?"

He looked up at her, his eyes red and tear stains on his cheeks. He attempted to smile at her, but it came out as a grimace. 

"Felicity," he breathed, before taking another swig from the bottle. 

She gently took the bottle from his hands and placed it on the bar in front of him. "What's wrong?" 

He did not say anything for a few minutes, just stared at a spot on the bar. He smelled slightly of the alcohol, but did not appear to be drunk. He was just in pain. 

Just as Felicity was about to turn around, he spoke up. "I broke up with Laurel." 

The words came out flat, but Felicity could see how much it was hurting him. She was speechless for a few moments. "Why? I thought things were good between you two." 

Tommy chuckled humourlessly at that. "Why? Because she is still in love with Oliver fucking Queen!" 

Of course she was still in love with Oliver, Felicity thought. Who wasn't? 

Felicity wrapped her arms around Tommy, pressing into his side and laying her cheek on his shoulder. His hands came up to hold onto hers, clinging onto her tiny wrists for strength. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked quietly. 

He honestly did not want to. He wanted to finish that bottle of tequila and then open another till he was hammered enough to not feel the pain. He did not want to talk. But the words came out anyway. 

"She had been lying to me, meeting up with the Hood and using his help. But that was before I found out about Ollie, and I forgave her for that. But last night, when we were protecting Taylor Moore at the Queen house, I realized, he is still in love with her. And I couldn't help but think that if she found out who he was, she would go running back to him." 

He choked a sob, and Felicity tightened her hold on him. "I don't want to be hurt, Felicity. I know I will always be second to Oliver Queen. I just -"

Felicity pulled away from him and palmed his face, cutting him off with her thumbs on his lips. 

"Don't you dare think of yourself as second to Oliver, Tommy Merlyn. Don't you dare. You have so many things in you that Oliver couldn't hope for. You're kind, you're charming, and you're really handsome. Like, really, really handsome. And you can laugh! Do you know how broody Oliver is? It is really off-putting. But you are sweet and charming and any girl would be lucky to have you!" 

Tommy stated at her, suddenly seeing her in a different light. Before they realized it, Tommy had turned her so her back pressed into the bar, and his lips came down on her in a deep kiss. 

Felicity was startled, but she responded automatically. His lips became insistent, desperate, and Felicity gave back as good as she got. She opened her mouth and his tongue tangled with hers as they both fought for dominance. Her hands wound around his head, gripping onto his hair, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her hips flush against his. They both groaned at the sensation, and broke away from the kiss, breathing hard. Their eyes remained closed as Tommy ran his nose against hers, their lips mere millimeters away. 

"Tommy," she breathed, her breathe fanning across his face. He knew what she was going to say. Say it was wrong, that it was crossing a line, but he did not care. 

"Felicity, please," he begged, and she knew she was a goner. 

She pulled his lips back to hers, kissing him hard. He nipped at her bottom lip, while pushing her skirt up, palmed her ass as he pressed her center to his straining erection. She moaned breathlessly as he rutted his hips against her, causing friction in the most delicious way. 

Her hands went to his belt buckle, opening it, freeing him from his pants. He moved his lips to her throat, leaving open mouth kisses as she squeezed his length gently. He groaned, needing more. He pushed her panties aside and entered her in a single thrust, and she keened. 

Felicity wrapped her legs around his waist as he thrust into her hard. He pulled down her blouse, latching onto her bra covered breast, and she wrapped her arms around his back, moaning and gasping. 

They came together, hard and long, his hips erratically thrusting into hers as she writhed against him. Felicity buried her face in his chest, and he pulled her with him to sit on the floor, still buried deep inside her. They sat there like that for a few minutes, catching their breathes, when Felicity noticed his bags by the stairs. 

"Where are you staying?" She asked him softly. 

"I don't know," he whispered into her hair. 

"Stay with me," she said. Tommy did not hesitate. Simply nodded against her. 

 

\-------

 

For some reason, Felicity felt guilty when she went into the foundry the next day. Digg hadn't turned up, and Oliver was being his broody self. Felicity finished her work early - there were no criminals today that needed the fear of God put in them - and started to leave at around 9. 

She crossed the stairs while going out, her eyes falling to the busy bar. She flushed she remembered what had happened there the previous night. She was almost by her car when realization hit her and she stopped in her tracks. 

They hadn't used protection last night, and Tommy came inside her. 

She took a few deep breaths, brushed aside the panic, and chose to ignore it. 

 

\--------- 

 

The bedroom door burst open, and Tommy pushed Felicity in, his mouth glued to hers. She tore open his shirt, buttons popping everywhere, and he pushed the straps of her dress down till it pooled around her feet on the floor.

They fell onto the bed, clinging onto each other, bodies moving together, hips thrusting. Felicity pushed him back to lay on the bed, straddling him. They rocked their hips, seeking friction, as Felicity reached into her bedside drawer for a condom. She ripped it open with her teeth and used her mouth to roll it onto his length.

She sank down onto him, both of them groaning at the sensation. She leaned back, her hands resting on his knees, and started moving. He gripped her hips and thrust up to meet her hips in rhythm. His fingers played with her clit, and he got her off twice before he came.

Felicity lay on top him afterwards, and he wrapped his arms around her, running his fingers through her hair.

"Does Oliver know you're staying with me?" She asked him after some time.

"No. And I'd like to keep it that way. Don't want anyone to know."

Felicity nodded. She lifted her head to kiss him, and he turned them over for round two.

 

\---------

 

Diggle did not return to the foundry for two weeks. Laurel paid Oliver a visit at the bar early one morning, and he promised her he'd speak with Tommy on her behalf. That was the first time Felicity met Laurel, and seeing her talking with Oliver broke her heart for Tommy.

Meanwhile, the Hood busted up Harold Backman, a dirty accountant, and Felicity got his laptop to return all the money he had stolen.

That was where she got her first lead on Walter.

“I hacked Cayman Fidelity,” Felicity was telling Oliver as they walked down the stairs to the basement. “And put together a list of all the deposits Backman made last year.

“Felicity, what good does that do us if we don’t know whose money it was?”

“Look at the biggest deposit Backman made last year. Bottom page.”

“$2 million on Decem-” Oliver started reading before realization hit him. “December 12th. That’s…”

“The day Walter disappeared,” Felicity finished for him. She started walking towards her work started. “What if one of Backman’s clients was paid $2 million to kidnap Walter?”

“Then we find out which client it was and we use them to find Walter.”

The money points to a Dominic Alonzo, who runs the biggest underground casino in town. He also has a history of kidnapping.

“Alonzo’s casino has its own private army.” Oliver says. “We need to access Alonzo’s computer without setting off any alarms.”

Felicity looks up at him. “Looks like we’re going to need all the help we can get.”

Oliver brushes off her attempt to get him to talk with Diggle. When Felicity suggests going undercover herself, Oliver refuses.

“I can count cards. It’s all probability theory and mathematics. Have you met me?” Oliver looks like he wants to protest but she doesn’t let him. “Bottom line – I know my way around a casino.”

They agree to do it his way. Felicity sent Tommy a text. _Will be working late. Probably won’t have dinner._

Her cell phone buzzes instantly with his reply. _Queen should give you nights off._

Before she could reply, she got another message. _Don’t be too late. You’re my dinner tonight ;)_

Felicity blushed a bit and put her phone aside. She did not notice Oliver looking at her.

\--------------

 

“Just to be clear,” Felicity said as Oliver and her walk down an alley to where the casino is. “The plan is for me to get caught counting cards in an underground casino filled with hardened criminals.”

“So you can get a friendly warning from Alonzo and plant a bug on his office computer,” Oliver finished for her, all the while keeping an eye out for any threats or people who can recognize them.

“If anything happens, I’ll be right outside,” he reassures her.

As Felicity gives the password and walks inside, Oliver can’t help but let his eyes roam over her. She was wearing a red dress that was backless and had a slit running down the back from her knees. Tommy hadn’t been able to keep his hands to himself when he saw her get ready, causing her to almost be late.

"It feels really good having you inside me," Felicity had said, and then corrected her mistake. Oliver had to remind himself that she had someone in her life. 

Walter was dead. Or so they thought. 

Oliver went home to break the news to his family. He ended up following his mother to Malcolm Merlyn's office. He realised that the people behind his stepfather's kidnapping were his own mother and his best friend's father. 

Felicity went home and cried in Tommy's arms. She blamed herself partially. Tommy couldn't understand that. She slipped out once Tommy was asleep, finding herself at the foundry with Oliver. 

Walter was alive, and with Felicity's help, he was safe. 

 

\----------

 

 Diggle came back two days later, which was also the day Felicity should have got her period. She didn't, for the first time in her life. She chalked it up to the added stress from her night life, choosing to ignore the alternative. 

Digg and Oliver came up with an elaborate plan to get Moira to give up the details of whatever Merlyn had planned. They returned with Oliver's face bloodied and beaten, but now they knew what was going on.

Malcolm Merlyn wanted to level the Glades with the help of an artificial earthquake generator. He called it the Undertaking. 

For three days Felicity tried to get in to the Merlyn Global Mainframe. 

"Hacking is such an ugly word. I'm... Yup, totally hacking into the Merlyn Global mainframe," She had told her partners. 

But they needed to get inside the building.

Digg got into security, going in as a temporary replacement in the footage room. 

"I'll set up a meeting with Tommy," Oliver said. 

Felicity sent him a message from before.  _Just a heads up, Oliver will be coming to talk with you about something. It's important, don't send him away._

The reply came back shortly. Tommy simply sent a thumbs up sign. 

Felicity and Oliver stopped at the 22nd floor, and had to climb up to the 23rd. They climbed out of the elevator and onto the support beams of the building. 

"Don't look down," Oliver said as he shot a crossbow arrow to secure a rope. 

"Too late," Felicity said, gripping onto his arm. She felt a wave of nausea hit her, and it took everything in her power to not get sick right that moment. 

"Felicity, hold on to me tight," Oliver said, wrapping an arm around her waist. 

The words came out before she could stop them. "I imagined you saying that under different circumstances." Oliver looked at her, and she stared right back into his eyes. They were like Tommy's, but more hardened, shielded. But there was a hint of amusement in them. "Very platonic circumstances." 

He helped her climb up to the next floor. When they reached, her face was scrunched up. 

I'm going to be sick, she thought. I'm going to be sick. I'm going to be sick. I'm going to...

"Felicity? Are you okay?" Oliver broke through her mental chant, and she nodded, swallowing down another wave of nausea. 

"Yeah," she said, swallowing hard. "This is my about to hack face. Because I'm about to hack." 

She hacked into the mainframe, left a trojan, did a fist pump and got the hell out of there (with a little help from John Diggle).

When they got back to the lair, she immediately set up the computers to go through the data before running to the washroom. She had her face bent over the sink, violently heaving, when she felt a warm hand rubbing her back. She didn't need to look up to know it was Oliver. 

She cleaned her mouth and took the bottle of water he offered. "Hey, you okay?" He asked. 

"Yeah," she said, not looking at him. "I have a fear of heights, which I just realised today." 

Oliver seemed unsatisfied with her reply, and looked concerned, but he did not push her, for which she was grateful. 

As they went through the data, Oliver realised that if they stopped the Undertaking, his vow to his father would be fulfilled. He could live a normal life after all. He left them then, saying he had to speak with Laurel. Digg went to get a late lunch. 

As for Felicity, she stopped by a drug store near her townhouse before going home. She bought a set of five pregnancy tests, going home in a daze. The house was empty; Tommy was still at Merlyn Global. 

She peed on all five tests and set a timer on her phone. Vaguely, she remembered she had not eaten all day, but she felt too nervous. Just the thought of food made her feel sick again. So she sat on her bed, clasping and unclasping her hands in front of her. 

When the timer went off, it took all her strength to walk over to the washroom counter. Taking a deep breath, she turned over the first test.

It had a single line on it.  _Negative._

She turned the next one. It had a plus sign. She turned the next three. One had a smiling face. Another should a thumbs up. Felicity looked at the last one. 

_Pregnant._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone! Thank you for reading my story and leaving comments/kudos! They really make my day! 
> 
> I am hoping to be able to update this story weekly, but I can't guarantee it. I'm am not exactly comfortable with typing a story out, so I first write each chapter by hand and then I type it out, because it's easier to form the story when I have a pencil iny hand. Ergo, updates will be a bit irregular. Sorry for that. 
> 
> But thank you for sticking with the story anyway!

Felicity stared at the four positive pregnancy tests in front of her. She felt unable to move, unable to see anything else or think of anything else.

_She was pregnant._

_Oh God_ , was the first thing that came to mind. Before she could think, she started feeling sick. She ended up hunched over her toilet, dry heaving. When the nausea passed, she got up, got a glass of water, and sat down on her couch.

She had to tell Tommy, but how? They were friends, of sorts, and this wasn’t supposed to happen. Besides, he was still very much in love with Laurel while she mooned over her emotionally unavailable boss. She had no doubt that if she told Tommy, he would do the right thing. He would be by her side every day and every night, he would go to doctor’s appointments with her, he would satisfy her wants and cravings in the middle of the night. He would probably even try to give them a chance, give the kid a happy, stable family. He would be a good father, Felicity thought.

A sudden wave of fear and panic hit her as her hand found its way to her abdomen. _She was going to be a mother,_ she realised, startled. How could she be a mother? She was still 23 years old, for crying out loud! With the work she did for Oliver, it wouldn’t be safe for the baby. She wouldn’t be able to be there for her child all the time. She had had enough experience with estranged parents to know that she did not want her baby to go through that.

She did not know how long she sat there, hands cradling her abdomen, contemplating what it meant for her. She was broken out of her reverie by an alarm on her phone going off. She picked it up from where she had left it on her bed. It was the alarm she had set to let her know when the computer had finished hacking into Merlyn Global files.

Right. The Undertaking.

Felicity grabbed her things and left for the foundry. On her way, she realized that with stopping the Undertaking, she could be done with the vigilante work too. She could lead a normal life with a normal man, with a normal 9 to 5 job with no, absolutely no, arrow wielding men (well, man) in her life. She would help Oliver right now, help him stop the leveling of the Glades, and then she would tell Tommy.

When Felicity got to the foundry, Oliver and Digg were already there. Digg must have sensed something was off with her when she entered. He gave her a curious but concerned look, which she returned with what she hoped was a reassuring smile. 

She sat down in her chair and with a deep breath began combing through all the data to look for the location of the artificial earthquake generator. 

"It's at a warehouse," she said, writing down the address on a paper for Digg. 

"You go on and find that device," Oliver told Diggle. "I'll distract Merlyn." 

"According to the Trojan I left, he just logged on to his office computer," Felicity told him. 

Oliver nodded in acknowledgment at her, before donning his hood and heading out. Felicity but her lip as she stared at thethe steel door through which both the men had just left. She had a bad feeling about this that she couldn't shake. 

She had just activated her comms when her phone buzzed with a text. 

 _Where are you?_ Tommy had sent to her. 

 _Verdant basement. Working on a lead._ Felicity replied. 

Her phone buzzed again.  _Of course you are._

Felicity frowned at the text. _What's that supposed to mean?_

When she didn't get a reply, Felicity hesitated for a second before pressing the call icon next to Tommy's name. It went to voice mail. She was about to dial again when the comms came alive on Digg and Oliver's sides. 

Thoughts of Tommy were forgotten as Felicity focused on the mission. 

 

\-------- 

 

Malcolm Merlyn was the Dark Archer. 

He had discovered her trojan, and moved the device from its location. Digg gave a frustrated kick to the empty wooden crate, rubbing the palms of his hands over his head, before he left for the foundry. 

Over the comms, Felicity could hear Oliver try to fight against Merlyn. But the older man was much more skilled than him, and Felicity could practically hear him lose. 

The sounds of fighting came from the comms, loud grunts of pain, before there was a crackle and then complete silence. 

"Oliver?" Felicity called out, panic laced in her voice. "Oliver? Can you hear me? Digg!" 

"I'm on my way, Felicity," Diggle told her over the comms. 

"Digg his comm is down. I can't track him!" 

 "Felicity, I'm on my way. Activate the tracker we put in his boot." 

Felicity did that, but the tracker took way too long to get activated. By the time Digg got back, she was getting tired. All she had to do was wait, and as she sat in her chair, her neck started hurting and her eyes were drooping. 

"Felicity, hey," she was startled awake by Digg's hands on her arms. He was kneeling in front of her, worry etched on his face. "You okay?" 

"Yeah," Felicity said, voice a little rough. She sat up and stretched her arms and Digg stood up. "Yeah, I'm good. Good. Just tired." 

"The tracker will take time to activate," Digg informed her. "Let me take you home. You look like you need some serious rest." 

"Oh, John, my life is already too serious. Don't make my few moments of rest become that too." 

Diggle chuckled at that, offering her his hand to help her get up. "Come on." 

The drive home was quiet. Felicity leaned her head against the window, staring out with a lost look on her face. Digg looked over at her. 

"Hey," he cleared his throat. "Is everything okay?" 

Felicity looked over at him. "Yeah. Everything's okay. Everything's good, really. Except Oliver has been captured by a copycat archer who turned out to be his best friend's dad, who is also an evil mastermind hell bent on destroying half the city. So really..." 

"You know I meant with you. You're acting a little different." 

Felicity sighed. "I don't exactly have time to be worried about myself right now. But ask me again once all this is over. I'll have a definite answer then." 

When they reached her townhouse, the lights were on in the living room. 

"Felicity," Diggle said, pulling out his gun. "Wait here." 

Felicity quickly pit her hand on his arm, stopping him before he got out of the car. "It's okay, John. It's nothing." 

"Felicity-" he started, but she cut him off. 

"I have a friend staying over. He must have ended up staying up late waiting for me." 

"You sure?" He asked her. 

"Yes, John. Go back to the lair. Let me know when the tracker gets a hit." 

She said her goodbye, unlocking her door. "Tommy?" She called out. When she got no response, she made her way to the living room. It was empty. So was the rest of the house. 

She checked the guest bedroom. All his things were still in there. There was no note anywhere. She checked her phone for any messages. None. She called him, but it went straight to voicemail. 

"Tommy, where are you? I'm worried. I have something I need to tell you. Please, just," she broke off, taking a deep breathe. "Please, just let me know where you are, and come back home." 

She went to bed, tossing and turning and unable to sleep properly. When she woke up early, after barely few hours of sleep, it was to the buzzing of her phone. There were no messages from Tommy, just one from Diggle. 

Her stomach turned before she could open the text, and she ran for the washroom. After throwing up the Chinese takeout they had for dinner last night, Felicity cleaned up and checked her phone.

_Tracker got a location on him. Heading for it now. Get to the foundry asap._

 

\-------

 

Oliver came back bruised and battered. Malcolm Merlyn had moved up his timeline, and the Undertaking was going to happen that night. They had less than 20 hours to stop him. 

While Oliver tried to convince his mother to do the right thing, Felicity had to get to her day job at Queen Consolidated. She had barely reached her office when she was greeted by Detective Lance, who wanted to take her in for questioning. It was a call from the vigilante himself that got her out. 

"You know, I used to think the vigilante was a criminal too," she told Lance just as she was leaving. "But it seems to me that he's willing to sacrifice an awful lot to save this city. That kind of makes him a hero." 

Oliver warned Lance about Merlyn's plans, told him to evacuate the Glades. Meanwhile, Felicity went back to the foundry to try and locate earthquake device. 

That was when Oliver got a call from Thea. Moira Queen had confessed to the Undertaking on National Television. 

"Oliver, I'm sorry," Felicity said, but Oliver stopped her. 

"Don't be. She gave those people a chance." 

Felicity located the device, which was placed underground, directly underneath the place his wife had been killed all those years ago. 

"I was looking over the design schematics," Felicity said. "It can be set for timed detonation or be remote activated by a mobile transmitter." 

"Something that Merlyn could have on himself." Oliver said, and Felicity nodded in confirmation. 

After a heated debate, they agreed that Digg would help Oliver take down Merlyn. 

"Guess that leaves me to do the dismantling," Felicity said, and Oliver's expression became hard. 

"No," he said firmly. "This place is ground zero. Felicity, I want you out of here." 

Felicity crossed her arms across her chest, stepping forward to meet his glare evenly. "If you're not leaving, I'm not leaving. Besides, if I don't deactivate this device, who will?" 

"You're not going out." A few minutes later, he had Lance on the phone, willing to help Felicity out from the field while she directed him over the comms from the foundry. 

"I spoke with Tommy," Oliver told them, and it took Felicity all of her strength to not jump up and ask him how Tommy was doing. "Told him to keep Laurel out of the Glades, but he's still mad at me. He refuses to acknowledge that his father could do something like this, that he could be this evil." 

Oliver sighed, running a hand over his face. Digg stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on. We've got some work to do." 

The two of them left, and while Felicity waited for Lance to get connected to her comm line, she dialed Tommy's number again. It went to voicemail again. Felicity bit her lip in worry. She was feeling nauseated, but whether it was in anticipation of the impending catastrophe or from her pregnancy, she didn't know. She guessed it was a combination of both. 

She was on the phone with Lance when Diggle and Oliver's comms went online. They had reached Merlyn Global. 

“Felicity,” Oliver said. “We’re in his office. He’s not here.”

“Not anymore,” Diggle said. “But he was. The SWAT team sent to take him in is here, unconscious.”

There was some groaning sound over the comms, and Felicity’s heart jumped when she heard Oliver say Tommy’s name.

“Tommy, Tommy!” Oliver was saying. “Where’s your father?”

“Oliver,” Tommy groaned out, and Felicity was glad to hear his voice, even if it was distant. “I don’t know. Oliver, you were right. You were right about him.”

“Oliver,” Diggle called out, but he didn’t listen to him.

“Are you going to kill my father?” Tommy asked, and Felicity’s heart broke at his distraught voice.

“Get to safety,” was all Oliver said to him.

“Ms. Smoak,” Lance’s voice from her phone got her attention, and she focused on the device.

“You found it yet, Detective?” Felicity asked.

“Not exactly sure what I’m looking for,” Lance replied.

Felicity pulled up the schematics of the machine. “Do you want me to describe it to you?”

“No,” Lance said, and she could hear him removing some metal cover. “I’ve got it.”

“Okay,” Felicity said, taking a deep breathe, clearing her mind. “You should see something that looks like a circuit board. Pull it out.”

She heard Lance’s sharp intake of breathe. “Do you see the timer?” She asked, anxious.

“Seven minutes.”

Felicity gasped. “Okay, um,” she gulped. “Good news is, it’s going to be a paperweight in three.” She didn’t feel so sure about that, but Lance did not need to know that.

She guided him through it, describing the wires, and which ones he needed to cut. As the cutters cut the blue wire, the timer stopped, before there was a whirring and beeping sound.

“Oh God,” Lance said, and Felicity took a few deep breaths to calm herself. “No, no, no, no, no!”

“There must have been some sort of anti-tamper safeguard,” Felicity said, trying to keep her voice calm and controlled. “Hold on, I'm going to figure out a way to override it.”

“We have less than 3 minutes, Ms Smoak! There’s not much time.”

She could hear Lance talk with Laurel on the phone, and her own heart beat wildly as she thought of the thousands of people whose lives depended on her to stop this. She felt herself tear up just a bit, but she quickly wiped it away, focusing on the schematics in front of her.

“Detective Lance, I need you to listen to me very carefully.”

She could hear Lance struggling on the other side of the comms as she instructed him on what he needed to do. The next few moments were tense to say the least. Suddenly, there was a beeping sound.

Lance let out a long breathe. “Well done, Ms. Smoak.” The relief was apparent in his voice.

Felicity bowed her head in relief, gasping for air. All this time she could hear Oliver and Diggle fighting Merlyn. She turned on the mike in her comm. “Oliver, Lance did it.”

“It’s over,” she heard Oliver growl, probably to Merlyn.

There was pained gasping on the other end before Merlyn spoke. “If I’ve learned anything as a successful businessman, it’s redundancy.”

Felicity’s eyes widened, fear and panic filling every inch of her body. “Felicity,” Oliver said, horror apparent in his voice. “There’s another device. There are two of them.”

 He had just finished speaking when the ground started rumbling. Felicity shrieked as she felt everything move and shake around her. The ceiling crumbled a little, and one of the beams fell down near the training mats, but apart from that, Felicity was safe. 

"Felicity!" Oliver cried out over the comm link. 

"I'm okay," Felicity replied, her hands protectively curled around her abdomen. She heard Lance on the other line scream in panic and frustration. 

"I turned it off!" 

"Detective! There was a second device," she choked out. "I'm sorry." 

"Laurel! She's at CNRI!" She heard Lance exclaim before he turned off the comms. 

"Oliver!" Felicity cried out into her comm. "The damage is worse on the east side! Laurel... She's at CNRI! You're close, you should go save her." 

She could hear the hum and the roar of Oliver's bike as he swerved through the debris to reach CNRI. She heard him shuffle around, grunting as he shifted crumbled building parts. 

 "Tommy!" She heard Oliver call out in horror, and she felt her heart stop beating. Her throat clogged up as she heard Oliver call out his best friend's name again. 

There were some shifting sounds, before she heard deep heavy gasping and Tommy's choked voice. "Oliver!" 

"Tommy, no," Oliver cried out, and Felicity felt her heart clench. She felt like she couldn't talk, couldn't see, couldn't  _breathe._

"Laurel," Tommy gasped out in pain. "Is she okay? Is she safe?" 

"Yes, Tommy, you saved her," Oliver said, his voice breaking. 

"Hold on, Tommy," he continued. "I'm going to get you out of here." 

"No," Tommy rasped. "It's too late." 

Oliver was sobbing, unable to talk coherently. Felicity felt her throat tighten. 

"Oliver," she gasped out. "Put your comm on speaker."

"What?" 

"Put your comm on speaker!" She screamed at him. "Put your goddamn comm on speaker!" 

There was some shuffling as he did what she told, and suddenly she could hear Tommy clearly. He was gasping in pain, but his voice was too weak, too lifeless. 

"Tommy," she cried over the comms. 

"Felicity," she could hear the pain in his voice, the longing, the regret. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." 

"Tommy, please," she was sobbing now, her voice breaking. "You can't die! You can not die!" 

"'Licity, I'm sorry for..." She heard him gasp for breathe before he could continue. "Sorry for not picking up." 

"Tommy, don't," she sobbed, her head bowing down over her work station. "Please, no, Tommy..." 

"Lis," Tommy said, his voice heavy and dry. 

"Tommy, no... I'm pregnant!" 

There was a gasp and a sharp intake of breathe on the other side. Felicity squeezed her eyes shut, hand falling to her flat stomach. "I'm pregnant, Tommy. You're going to be a father." 

"Felicity," Tommy said, and there was a different type of pain in his voice. The pain of not being able to meet your child. She could practically hear him crying silently. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." 

She heard Oliver cry then, reminding them of his presence. 

"Oliver," Tommy choked out. "Promise me... You'll take care of her." 

Felicity brought her fist up to her mouth to hold in her cry. She imagined Oliver must have replied, because Tommy continued.

"Promise me you'll look after her and the baby. They won't be safe, tied to me," he gulped. "Look after them, keep them safe. Promise me!" 

"I promise you, Tommy," Oliver cried out. "I promise." 

"Thank you," Tommy simply said, before she heard an anguished cry from Oliver. 

"Tommy, no! No, no!" 

Felicity cried loudly. She fell forward on her chair, leaning heavily against the table. 

Tommy was dead. 

Tommy was dead, and she was pregnant with his child. 

She lost track of time. She lay there, body too numb to do anything. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. Diggle was standing there, his other hand pressed against his shoulder. 

"John..." She croaked out, unable to continue. 

"I know," he said. "I heard everything on the comms." 

This triggered a new wave of tears as she silently mourned. They heard a pair of heavy footsteps on the metal stairs, dragging their weight slowly. Oliver came into view, looking just as broken and anguished as she felt. 

 She got up and ran to him, and he wrapped his arms around her. They held on to each other tightly as she buried her face in his bloody chest and he buried his in the curve of her neck. She was sobbing hard against him, while he silently cried. 

They fell to the ground together, not relaxing their hold of the other. Felicity cried, and cried. She cried for herself, for her unborn child. She cried for Oliver, who held onto her tight. 

Oliver cried for the woman in his arms, the woman who was carrying his best friend's baby, the woman he promised to look after. He cried for the friend, for the brother he lost, for the man who died without knowing his child. 

They stayed like that for a long while, holding on, not letting go. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cried while writing this. Tommy's death still hurts me. 
> 
> Reviews and comments are like my coffee - they help me write more and better! Don't forget to leave your thoughts!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, okay, writing is difficult. But... Here's your chapter. Thank you to everyone who left comments/kudos on the story. Really appreciate it.

Tommy’s funeral was on a Friday, two weeks after the Undertaking. It was a dull, cold and gloomy day, with a constant stream of rain drizzling down. Felicity felt as if the heavens themselves were mourning the loss of someone as good as Tommy Merlyn.

The past two weeks Felicity had spent all her time holed up in her apartment. She would have thought with the way she had cried the day he died, she would not have any tears left in her, but every new day brought with itself the realisation that Tommy had been dead another day, and with it came a fresh wave of tears and pain. For most of the time, Oliver was there with her. He left once to check on Thea, and once for Laurel. When he wasn’t there, he made sure Diggle was with her, and that she wasn’t alone.

For two days after the Undertaking, Felicity just lay in her bed, wearing one of Tommy’s dress shirts while it still smelled like him. She refused to get up, except to go to the bathroom. Oliver religiously brought her food three times a day. They would sit together, eating in silence, neither having much of an appetite but going through the motions just the same. The rest of the time, Felicity would be curled up in the bed, drifting in and out of consciousness.

The only time she spoke in the two days was when Oliver informed her he was going to check up on Laurel. She silently got up and weakly walked to her guest room, where she pulled out a Starling City Rockets t-shirts from one of the drawers. She handed it to him. "This was his favourite shirt," she told him in a raspy voice. "Laurel would need it." 

Oliver carefully took it from her, turning it over in his hands. In all his years, he never knew Tommy to be a Starling City Rockets fan. It startled him to realise how much his five years away had changed not just him, but those closest to him too. "Did Laurel know he was staying here?" He asked carefully, his voice not above a whisper. 

Felicity wrapped her arms tightly around herself, hugging her own body. She shook her head, her eyes fixed on the ground. "He didn't want anyone to know." 

The third day was when her morning sickness really set in. She jolted awake in her bed that morning, mouth burning with an acrid taste as she stumbled to her bathroom. She felt Oliver's rough hands pull back her hair from her face, gently rubbing her back.

That morning Felicity let it sink in that she was doing this, and she was doing this alone. That morning Felicity fell into Oliver's arms and cried, wishing so badly that the arms holding her were Tommy's and not his, her petty crush on him forgotten. When she passed out of dizziness and fatigue, right there on the bathroom floor in his arms, he carried her to her bed, laying her down as softly as possible. He placed a glass of water on her nightstand and pecked her forehead gently, before making his way to her couch, where he had spent his last two nights. 

From then on they fell into a routine. Felicity was sick a lot, and Oliver was there to calm her down every time. It didn't stop her from wishing for Tommy, but she had started to be grateful to Oliver for doing that. When she was not sick, she was laying in her bed a lot. She had started moving about the house, eating on the table, cleaning the dishes with Oliver, but she felt too weak, too exhausted to do much more. 

The day of the funeral came, dark and gloomy, and Felicity lay in her bed, on her side, one hands under her head and the other on her flat belly. At a little more than four weeks pregnant, she wasn't showing, but her abdomen felt different to her. Harder. Tougher. 

Oliver walked into her bedroom twenty minutes later, surprised to find her in bed and not sick. She was lying on her back, both hands curled around her belly as she gently caressed it. His eyes drifted to them, and he swallowed hard. 

"Hey," he said roughly, moving to sit on her bed by her side. "Are you ready for today?" 

She looked up at him, and their eyes met. He held her gaze and somehow she felt as if he was giving her the strength to face what the day might hold. Slowly she nodded her head. "What about you?" She asked him. 

He was quiet for a few moments, thinking. I... I don't think..." He took a deep breathe, gathering his thoughts. "I don't think that I could ever be ready for this." 

She brought up her hand to entwine it with his and squeezed it. She didn't say anything, neither did he, but they both knew that today, they would not be alone. 

She got dressed in a modest black dress, choosing to wear her panda flats with it. They gave her a sense of comfort. When she looked in the mirror for the first time in two weeks, she saw just how terrible she looked. Her face was thin and pale, with shadows under her eyes. Her eyes were flat and weary, their shine lost. Her hair was dull and knotted. Slowly, wearily, she put on some makeup, but the results were not that great. 

When she walked out to her living room, she saw Oliver standing by the table, looking at a cardboard box on top of it. He looked up when he heard her enter. "What's this?" 

She had put together the box last night, after Oliver had fallen asleep on her couch. It contained some of Tommy's most precious possessions. She opened the flap, letting him see what was inside. The first thing he spotted was Tommy's watch, the one his mother had given to him when she was still alive. Tommy's coffee mug was in there, along with his favourite blue and black striped tie. There was a small monkey soft toy, one that Tommy had had since he was born. Oliver was surprised to see that Tommy had kept it safe. 

Below that there was a framed photograph. It was of Laurel and Tommy. Tommy used to keep it on his nightstand, a similar one on his office desk. Oliver screwed his eyes shut. "I put it together for Laurel." He heard her say. "I'll give it to her today. She deserves to keep them."

Oliver opened his eyes and took a step back. "You ready to go?" He asked her. 

Felicity nodded and moved to pick up the box, but he beat her to it. She was about to protest but he gave her a look, a broken look, and she realised this wasn't just an act of chivalry for him. He was holding his last links to his best friend close to his chest. 

They took his Bentley to the cemetery. He opened the door for her when they reached there, holding out his hand for her to take. Gingerly she stepped out, holding onto his hand tightly. Even in her flats she didn't want to risk a fall. The ceremony was short, and only a few people turned up. 

Felicity could feel Oliver tense as soon as they entered the cemetery. She linked their fingers together, holding on to him tight. He looked down at her, grateful for her. They sat in the front row, on the opposite aisle from Laurel, who was there with her father. Thea sat on Oliver's other side, not even bothering to spare Felicity a second glance as she found her seat. For the outside world, the paths of Tommy Merlyn and Felicity Smoak never crossed. She was there to support Oliver. The priest said a few lines; it was obvious he wasn't too keen on doing this. Felicity hated how Malcolm Merlyn's acts had tarnished his son's reputation. 

Oliver sat still throughout the ceremony. He kept his head bowed the entire time, not really seeing or hearing anything. Felicity curled her unoccupied arm around his and leaned her head against his shoulder. The man next to her was not the fierce warrior who shot arrows into Starling's worst criminals. He wasn't even the friend who held back her hair when she got morning sickness. No, he was the broken and damaged man who had just lost the war he had been fighting for months, the man who lost a brother. It made her feel guilty that she had spent two weeks moping and grieving, while he had set his grief aside to look after her. 

On Oliver's other side, Thea was sobbing hard. She had Walter with her, and Felicity was glad the young girl did not have to face this alone. When the ceremony was over, Felicity had to nudge Oliver to get him to stand up. When he did, he swayed slightly, a testament to just how much the day had affected him. Felicity wrapped an arm around his lower back, letting him wrap his around her waist as they walked over to where Laurel and Thea were holding on to each other. 

"Laurel, Speedy," Oliver whispered to them, and they turned to him. Laurel broke of from the embrace first to wrap herself around Oliver, and Thea joined her. He had to let go of Felicity though, and he ended the group hug quickly to hold onto her again. He cleared his throat. "You remember Felicity?" 

"Yeah," Laurel said, looking at the blonde warily. "Thank you for coming."

Felicity felt uncomfortable under her gaze. "I'm really sorry for your loss," she told her, looking down at her hands. "Tommy was my friend too. Can I - can I talk with you in private?"

Laurel nodded, and Felicity let go of Oliver's hand with a gentle squeeze, before leading the way to the car park. They crossed Detective - Officer - Lance, who gave his daughter a kiss on the temple and greeted her with a nod of his head. "Miss Smoak." 

Felicity tried to smile at him. "Detective." They walked to Oliver's car in awkward silence. Felicity fiddled with her dress while Laurel gave her long side glances. Once they reached the car, Felicity opened the passenger side door and took out the box. 

"This is..." She let out a deep breathe, keeping her eyes firmly on the box. Um, this is some things that you would want." 

Laurel took the box from her carefully. Her eyes widened when she took in the contents. "Where did you get this?" She said in a hopefully unintentionally accusatory tone. 

Felicity flinched. "Tommy was a good friend. When he, uh, when he broke up with you, he had no other place to go to..." She broke off when Laurel glanced sharply at her. She hurried to explain herself. "He was kind of mad at you and Oliver, not that it was your fault, or Oliver's, or even Tommy's fault really. Just misunderstandings. And it was not exactly a good option for him to go back to his father. He just needed a place to crash." 

Laurel smiled a little, just a small tug of her lips. "My car is just in the next lane. Walk with me?" 

Felicity nodded slowly. It felt weird to her that Laurel, Gorgeous Laurel, would want to talk with her. As they walked slowly, something changed in the air. It was no longer awkward or uncomfortable. Felicity glanced at Laurel. "He loved you a lot, you know," she said softly. Laurel took in a sharp breathe. "When he broke up with you, he thought he was doing the right thing. He thought he was letting you go so that you could be happy with Oliver. But he never stopped loving you." 

Laurel nodded, her lips quivering as her eyes teared up. They reached her car, and with jerky movements Laurel opened it to keep the box inside. She turned back towards Felicity, wiping a lone tear that ran down her cheeks. "Thank you, Felicity," she said, and Felicity knew she meant it. 

Hesitantly, Felicity took Laurel's hands in hers, and the other woman clutched onto her as she broke down. Tears were streaming down Felicity's face too, but she chose to ignore them. "I wanted to ask you," she said, her voice heavy with tears. "All of Tommy's stuff, it's still at my house. And I felt like it wasn't my place to..." she broke off, biting her lip. "You can come over any day, sort through it and..."

Laurel nodded, incapable of talking at the moment. They stood like that for a while, holding onto each other, their sobs the only sound in the air. It was only when Oliver came looking for them that they let go.

"I need to go," Felicity whispered, and Laurel nodded, wiping her tears. Felicity turned, and hesitated. "Laurel?" The brunette looked up at her. "If you ever need someone to talk to, you can always talk to me." 

 

\---------

 

Felicity sat in Oliver's car, quietly waiting for him to return. When he did, he started the car in silence, driving towards her house without a second thought. They had almost reached when a thought struck her. "Why was Tommy angry with you?" she asked him quietly.

"Huh?" Oliver asked her, startled. 

 She turned her head to look at him. "The day before he..." Felicity swallowed. "Tommy and I were texting, and he got angry when I told him I was with you. And then you said that he was mad at you, and refused to listen to you. So, what did you do? Aside from the obvious arrow-wielding activities, what made him angry with you?" 

Oliver hesitated, contemplating how to answer that. They had reached her house now, and Felicity waited for his answer. She was about to give up and get out of the car when he spoke. 

"I slept with Laurel." 

Felicity whipped her head around to look at him, her mouth hanging open. 

"I slept with Laurel and... Tommy saw." 

She didn't reply. Without looking at him, Felicity got out of the car, slammed the door shut with strength that surprised them both, and walked up to her house. She left the door open, and followed behind her. She walked into the living room and suddenly turned, looking him straight in the eye. "Explain." 

Oliver sighed. He gestured for her to sit down on the couch and sat down himself. "The day we went to Merlyn Global, I went to speak with Tommy." 

Felicity nodded. She remembered that day, for a different reason. 

"I told him that Laurel loved him, and he should not give up on her. But then we found out about the Undertaking and I realised that once it was all over, I could have a normal life." 

"So you went over to Laurel's," Felicity said. "And slept with her." 

"Yes," he said, head bowed in shame. "But what I told Tommy must have got through to him, because he went there too, and he saw Laurel and I." 

"That was a dick move Oliver Queen," Felicity said, her voice low. He looked up at her to see tears in her eyes. 

"Do you know where I was that day, when you were busy betraying your best friend?" Felicity said, her voice getting higher. "I came home with a bag full of pregnancy tests! I was alone when all but one test came positive!" She had unknowingly shifted, edged closer to him. "Did you know I tried calling him? But he did not pick up because of you! Because. Of. You!" She shoved him in the chest with her finger with every word. "He was drowning in hurt and betrayal and loneliness and when he needed me, I was busy with you too!" 

She was about to hit him again, but Oliver caught her arms. He leaned in, his face contorted with guilt and sadness and pain. "You think I don't know that?" His voice was dangerously low. "You think I don't blame myself everyday for what happened? He was my best friend, Felicity! My  _brother!_ You're not the only one who lost him! Since he's been gone I haven't been able to grieve because I'm looking after you. You knew him for a few weeks! I grew up with him -"

He broke off abruptly as Felicity jerked her hands away from his grasp and slapped him. Hard. "Just because I did not know him all my life like you," she whispered, tears streaming down her face. "Just because I wasn't in love with him like Laurel does not mean I did not care for him." 

She wiped her cheeks, but fresh tears kept falling. She swallowed, taking in a deep breath, but her nose had turned red and blocked by snot. "I am  _pregnant,_ Oliver!" Her voice broke and Oliver leaned to cup her face in his hands, guilt on his face and apology on his lips. But she didn't give him a chance to speak. "When I found out I was pregnant, I was so scared. But I knew that no matter what happened, Tommy would support me and be there by my side. I know what it is like to grow up without a father, and I would never have wanted that for my kid. And now..." 

She choked on a sob, and Oliver pulled her in to hug her. She buried her face in his chest, covering his suit jacket in tears. "I am 23 years old, Oliver. I am completely alone, and I cannot do this alone." 

"Hey, hey," Oliver said, pulling back to look look her in the eyes. "You will not be alone. I'll be there with you the entire time. Every step of the way," he hesitated before continuing. "If you want, I'll be the father to your child." 

Felicity stared at him. "Oliver, you don't know what you're talking about! Thi- this is a baby we're talking about, not some mission. This is for the rest of your life -" 

"Felicity," he cut her off. "This is Tommy's baby, this is my last link to him. I made him a promise, to look after you both, and I will honour it, gladly. Besides, you're my friend, and my partner. I wouldn't have you do this alone. Ever." 

Felicity looked into his eyes, searching. There was determination in them. He meant every word of what he told her. Slowly, she nodded. Oliver let go of her face, bringing his hands down to entwine his fingers with hers. There was a hint of a smile on his face. 

"So does this mean I'm going to be a father?" He teased her, and she let out a reluctant huff that sounded like a laugh. 

"If that is what you want," she said. 

"Oh, trust me when I say that I've never wanted anything more in my life," he said, holding her gaze. She felt herself heat up at his words, and looked away, embarrassed. 

"So, how are we doing this?" Felicity asked. 

"Let's not think about that now," he replied, pulling her up and leading her towards the kitchen. "We'll talk about that tomorrow. Right now, let's get you some food." 

As if on cue, Felicity's stomach rumbled. They both laughed, surprised at how easy it was to be with each other. They were walking out the door when he remembered. 

"Oh wait," he stopped her, and she looked at him questioningly. He put his hand inside his suit jacket and pulled out a small monkey soft toy. Tommy's monkey soft toy. "I asked Laurel if I could take it," he told her softly. "I want the baby to have this, a small piece of his father's childhood." 

She took the toy from his hands, her eyes tearing up. She closed her eyes shut before opening them again. "Thank you," she said, her voice breaking. She sniffed. "God, I need to stop crying." They both chuckled as she wiped her eyes.

"I would say hormones, but Digg warned me that pregnant women hate that," Oliver said cheekily. She smacked him in the chest before quickly running in to place the toy inside. When she came out, Oliver had the passenger side door open for her. He made sure she was settled in before going over to his side. 

"So, what do you want to eat?" 

Felicity thought for a moment before grinning at him. "Cupcakes?" 

"Cupcakes for lunch?" Oliver asked.    


"The baby wants what the baby wants," she said, and Oliver grinned at her. 

"In that case," he started the engine and looked at her. "Cupcakes it is." 


	4. Chapter 4

The next three weeks, Oliver and Felicity fell into a comfortable routine. Still dealing with the aftermath of the quake, QC was officially closed, with Oliver planning on taking over as CEO next month. Felicity would take over as the head of the IT Department, her predecessor having died in the earthquake. 

In the three weeks, Oliver and Felicity discussed all their plans and came up with stories to tell people regarding the baby. Diggle was the only person they let in on the whole truth. They told him everything, how Oliver would not let Felicity go through it alone, how after Felicity's own childhood experiences, her baby deserved to have a father figure, how being labeled a Merlyn could put the baby's and Felicity's lives at risk, and even though being a Queen wouldn't be risk free either, at least Oliver would have the resources to protect them. Although he wasn't a big fan of the idea, Diggle let it slide and became their number one (well, only at that point) supporter. He also helped them around the house with little things like grocery shopping and watering Felicity's plants (which he later on realised were made of plastic and did not need any watering). 

They spoke about Tommy a lot. Felicity told Oliver about their relationship, the friends with benefits arrangement. Oliver told Felicity about his and Tommy's 'adventures' from their childhood. The whole thing helped Oliver mourn his friend better and helped him come to terms with his death.  

Oliver slept on Felicity's couch the entire three weeks. It felt more like home to him than the Queen Manor, which was practically empty since Thea decided to stay with her boyfriend. Raisa was the one looking after the manor, and sending Oliver homemade food through Diggle. The guest room in her house was still filled with Tommy's things, so Oliver's clothes went into one of the spare drawers in Felicity's room and his toothbrush sat next to hers in her en suite washroom. The domesticity of it was overwhelming at first, but Felicity came to accept and even like it. 

Since Thea had taken over Verdant, and neither had any day jobs at the moment, they spent all their time at her house. It wasn't safe for them outside yet, and even though Oliver could protect them he did not want to take any risks with Felicity's safety. Not until things calmed down. He also obstinately refused to go to the foundry and 'hood up', no matter how much Felicity tried to convince him to. He had failed in his mission as the Hood, he told her. He couldn't stop the Undertaking, and 503 people were dead because of his mistakes. He wouldn't listen when Diggle and Felicity tried to convince him otherwise. 

In these three weeks, Felicity's morning sickness became worse. There were days when she would wake up and rush to the washroom and spend a good portion of the morning clinging to the pot. The rest of the day she would be too weak and tired to get out of the bed. She could barely keep any food down, and ended up eating dry toast and orange juice all the time. She was patient though, and it was mainly due to Oliver's support. He held back her hair as she vomited, rubbing gentle circles on her back. He prepared her food, brought it on a tray to her bed. He sat and watched old sitcoms with her till she fell asleep. Even though he hovered over her a lot, and panicked at every minor change in her health, he managed to keep her sane. 

It was almost midnight, and Oliver was sitting on the couch, watching the news channel on mute. The headlines flashed across the screen, reminding him of the press release the next day, when he will be officially launching the Glades Restoration Programme and will be donating over $10 million to kick start the programme. He was about to change the channel when he heard sounds of discomfort coming from Felicity's bedroom. Turning off the TV he got up and knocked on her slightly ajar door before opening it all the way. 

"Hey," he said, and Felicity stopped shuffling on the bed and turned to look at him. "You okay?" 

She gave a huff of frustration. "No," she whined. "I can't sleep. I'm used to sleeping half on my stomach and now I can't, for obvious reasons, but I can't find another position comfortable enough and it's really irritating me because I feel really, really tired and I really need to sleep and wow, that is a lot of really's..." She trailed off, shifting lower on the bed to bury her head in her pillow. 

Oliver pursed his lips, thinking. He walked over to the bed. "Scoot." 

She furrowed her eyebrows at his request but shifted over. He got into the bed under the covers and shifted the pillows a little to let them rest against the headboard. Lying down, he motioned for her to come to him, pulling her up to lie down against his chest. He wrapped his arm around her back and rubbed small circles across her back. She buried her fave into his neck and sighed, her eyes already closing. 

"Better?" He whispered. 

She hummed against him. "Yeah," she mumbled sleepily. "You know, for someone as hard as you are, you're awfully comfortable. Like a perfect fit." She paused for a moment. "I won't even bother to correct that." Oliver chuckled at that. "But won't you get uncomfortable? I might end up drooling on you and-" 

"Felicity," he said, and she became quiet. "Sleep." 

They were both asleep in seconds. 

\-----------

 When morning came, Felicity woke up warm and comfortable. Sometime over the course of the night the two of them had shifted and now lay facing each other with just a small amount of distance between them as Oliver's arms hung loosely wrapped around her, palms spread flat across her back. She sighed and snuggled in closer to him, shutting her eyes. The movement roused him from his sleep, and he wrapped his arms tighter around her. 

"Good morning," he said, no traces of sleep in his voice. Felicity huffed out a breathe, refusing to open her eyes. 

"No, no morning," she mumbled against him. "I'm still sleeping. It's still night." 

Oliver let out a chuckle. "Come on, we have a big day ahead of us." 

She buried herself further in the blackets. "Mm mm, no big day. I want to stay here." 

"Felicity," he said, clearly amused. This was a side of her he hasn't witnessed before, and he found it really adorable. "Get up. We need to get to the press conference." When she didn't budge, he tried another tactic. "I'll make you nice pancakes for break-" 

Felicity shot up and bolted for the washroom, making it just in time to throw up in her sink. Tears were leaking out from the corners of her eyes as she stood bent over, hand clutching her middle as her entire body protested in pain as she heaved. Oliver came up behind her, pulling back her hair with one hand while he wiped her tears with the other, bringing it back to gently massage her lower back. Concern was clear on his face as Felicity laid down her head against the cool counter and sagged against him. 

Felicity was never a morning person, and her pregnancy made it worse for her. She was grateful that her morning sickness lasted in fact only in the mornings, but she couldn't wait for this phase to be over. She leaned against Oliver as he held up a glass of water to her lips, and she chugged it down as fast as she dared to. Once she was done, she closed her eyes wearily for a moment before looking up at Oliver. "No pancakes." 

Oliver couldn't help but agree. He ended up making omelettes for breakfast, something they realised Felicity could eat without wanting to throw up. They sat eating in silence while Oliver read the newspaper and Felicity read an article online on morning sickness. The domesticity of the moment wasn't lost on either of them. 

They had just about finished eating when Oliver's phone rang. He looked at the caller id in confusion before answering. 

"Laurel?" Felicity could make out Laurel's voice on the other end, but not her words. Oliver looked even more confused after hearing what she said. "Actually I'm with her right now if you want to talk to her." 

Felicity's eyebrows shot up in surprise as Oliver handed her the phone. Why would Laurel want to talk with her? Slowly she took the phone from his outstretched hand. "Hello?" 

"Felicity, hey, this is Laurel," she heard Laurel say from the other end. 

"Hi, I know, you're Laurel," Felicity said and then slapped her palm against her forehead. Oliver had an amused look on his face. "Sorry, what did you want to speak with me about?" 

"I, uh," the other girl said, and Felicity could hear the hesitancy and doubt in her voice. "I um, I wanted to ask you if you were available today after the press conference for the Glades. I wanted to go through... Tommy's things." 

"Oh yeah, sure," Felicity assured her. "We can come back directly from the meet." 

"Great," Laurel said, as if she couldn't believe that Felicity had agreed. "I'll get lunch. Do you like Chinese?" 

"No lunch!" Felicity cried out into the phone. She immediately started to correct herself. "I mean, not 'no' lunch, like I won't let you have lunch because I'm not that mean. I just meant-" 

Oliver took the phone from her before she could let her mouth run wild. "Laurel, it's Ollie again. What Felicity meant was that Raisa will be sending some home cooked meal and she does t want to hurt her feelings by ordering takeout." He waited for her reply. "Great, so we'll see you later today." 

He put the phone down and looked at Felicity. She gave him a feeble smile. He sighed. "Let's do this." 

\------------

The press meeting was held on an open field in the Glades. The mayor of the city along with Oliver and Laurel would be launching the Glades Restoration Programme to help restore the Glades and atone for their parents' sins, Laurel standing in on behalf of Tommy. Even though he had been cut off by his father, all his trust fund money and his assets had gone on to Laurel upon his death, who had decided that Tommy would have wanted to see that money be used for the good of Starling City. 

Felicity stood off to one side next to Diggle as she watched Oliver give his speech. He hasn't prepared one, but his feelings regarding his mother's actions were real and reflecting on his face as he spoke with utter compassion and conviction. 

"My mother made some foolish choices in the past," he said into the mic. His voice was low, gentle, passionate. "It pains me to think that because of her choices, your homes have been destroyed, your families have been torn apart. Because of her, you have suffered. But my choices and my actions are not my mother's." He paused to take a deep breathe. "On behalf of the Queen and Merlyn families, I would like to launch the Glades Restoration Programme. Today I donate $50 million on behalf of both the families. We are restarting Rebecca Merlyn's free clinic where anyone who needs treatment will be treated. Starling General and Glades Memorial are open to all the victims of the earthquake for free treatment. Local shelters have been funded with proper resources to provide anyone who needs help with food, clothing and shelter. Make no mistake, this is just the start. I will make sure that the Glades are restored and become a safer place for everyone who lives there. I owe it, to my city, and to every single one of you." 

Oliver had finished speaking and was met by a huge applause. As he stepped back from the podium Felicity noticed a red dot appear on his tie. 

"Oliver!" She screamed out just as the sounds of gunfire filled the air. Gunmen wearing black hoods and masks entered the field, causing complete chaos and panic. Felicity looked up just in time to see Oliver on the floor, safely pushed away from the original line of fire by Diggle, when she felt a hand curl around her ponytail as her head was wrenched back painfully. She screamed in pain, hands going up to try and free herself from her captor when she was dropped suddenly on the ground. 

Laurel Lance had hit the man who attacked her straight in the groin. As he doubled over in pain, she brought her fist up and punched him in the face, effectively breaking his nose and knocking him out. She then kneeled down next to Felicity, who stared up at her with wide eyes. 

"Felicity, are you okay?" Laurel asked her, hands moving up to curl around her shoulders. Felicity nodded and stood up with Laurel's support. She looked around for Oliver and heaved a sigh of relief when she saw him safe. 

The four gunmen, who had decided to attack them in broad daylight during a press conference with high security, were obviously novices holding a grudge. It took the bodyguards and the police barely minutes to overpower them and arrest them. Even though they had attacked her, Felicity couldn't find it in herself to blame them. 

"Felicity!" She heard Oliver call out and turned just in time to be lifted up by him and wrapped up in his arms. "You okay?" He asked, and she buried her face in his neck and nodded, breathing in his scent. 

"Yeah," Felicity said, swallowing. She pulled back and looked at him. "Are you okay? I saw the red dot on your tie and I was so scared..." 

"Felicity," Oliver said, hands cupping her elbows. "I'm fine. Digg pushed me out of the way." He looked her over, head to toe. "Are you sure you're okay? Do you want to go to the hospital? I'll have Digg get the car around." 

"Oliver, really, we're okay. No need for the hospital right now," she told him firmly, hand curling around her abdomen. Startled, she realised this was the first time she had referred to herself and the baby together as 'we'. 

A throat cleared to their right, and both looked up from their bubble to realise Laurel was still awkwardly standing there. "Oh God, Laurel," Felicity cried out. "You saved us and I didn't even thank you! I swear I'm generally not like this, not this ungrateful..." 

"It's okay, Felicity," Laurel interrupted her. "I should go," she said awkwardly. 

"Wait, don't you want to go sort through..." 

Laurel gave her a forced smile. "Maybe later. You should go rest." Felicity nodded, and Laurel turned to walk away before looking back at her one last time. "Oh, and congratulations you two." 

Oliver and Felicity both stared at her retreating figure before Oliver turned them around to walk towards their car. Felicity leaned against him. "That was eventful," she said, trying to diffuse the tension. 

Oliver gave her a dry look as he opened the car door for her. "You can say that again." 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your kind words. While I have the entire story planned out, there is one thing that I did not plan out, mainly because I wanted the readers' opinions: the baby. 
> 
> I've got requests for twins, for triplets, for a boy, a girl, and what not. Which is why this is something I want to ask all my readers. 
> 
> What do you want? 
> 
> I want you to vote for your baby preference. You can either vote for your option here, through the comments section, or by sending me a message on my tumblr account multi-fandom-crazy-fangirl.tumblr.com
> 
> Your options are:  
> 1) Boy  
> 2) Girl  
> 3) Twins - boy + boy  
> 4) Twins - boy + girl 
> 
> The poll will end on 25th of June. 
> 
> Thank you for sticking with my story!

As much as the shooting at the press release had shaken Felicity up, she was glad for it, mainly because it managed to knock some sense into Oliver. After they had left the place, Oliver took Felicity to the only safe place he knew - the foundry. It was time for him to put on the hood again.

He stopped short when he entered the basement. 

"Oliver, welcome to your new and improved Arrow Cave," Felicity said from behind him. 

The place looked completely transformed. While the old lair had been dark and dreary, this one was all LED lights and reflective surfaces. The old lair smelled of dust and leaking pipes; this one had the smell of leather and metal. The random steel tables had been arranged systematically, his quiver was in a proper place, different arrows arranged on the walls and tables based on use and colour. Oliver turned, taking it all in, and saw his hood and green suit in a glass case.

The place looked like a superhero's secret lair. 

Oliver looked at Felicity and John with a small awestruck grin on his face. "When did you do all this?" 

"Last week," Felicity said casually. "It's amazing how fast an ex-military/current vigilante sidekick can get work done to avoid incurring the wrath of a tiny IT expert." 

Diggle huffed out a breathe and crossed his arms across his chest. "Tiny  _pregnant_ IT expert. Plus, we thought it might be good incentive for you to get back into the business." 

Oliver ran his hand over his brown trunk that he got back from Lian Yu. "So your plan to get me to go back to being a vigilante rested on a revamped basement?" 

"Don't worry, we paid for everything using your credit card," Felicity said, a cheeky grin on her face. "You know, in case this didn't work out, you would only be the one to actually lose." 

Oliver chuckled at that. "Even if this did work out, I lost my bow in the fight against Merlyn." 

Felicity and Digg looked at each other, and Digg gestured with a tilt of his head for her to proceed. Felicity walked up to a large black box and gently opened the lid. Nestled inside was a 43" size small Oneida Kestral compound bow, the perfect mix of black and green in colour. 

"I had it custom made for you," Felicity said as Oliver gripped the handle of the bow, lifting it up, testing it. "I don't know much about bows, but I do know how to search on the Internet. I wasn't sure about the size, had to make a guess, but if you want-" 

"Felicity," Oliver interrupted her. "It's perfect. Thank you." 

He smiled at her, a small, gentle smile that he reserved just for her, and she smiled back at him, a small shy smile that reached her eyes and brightened her face up. With her long golden hair straight and flowing down her back, she looked angelic, and Oliver could stare at her all day. 

Diggle cleared his throat, breaking the spell between the two. He was leaning against one of the steel benches, looking at them with a smirk on his face. "So does this mean we're back in the crime fighting business now?" 

Oliver tore his gaze from Felicity and looked at Diggle. He sighed. "If we're gonna do this, it has to be about Tommy. I need to be the man he hoped I could be."

"Someone who is not a killer," Felicity breathed, and Oliver nodded.

"To do this, I cannot be the Hood anymore." He walked over to the glass case that held his vigilante suit. "To honour Tommy's memory, I need to be something else, and you two have helped me take the first step." 

"So what's step two?" Felicity said softly as she sat down in her black chair by the computers. "I'm game for anything as long as it does not involve heights. And I'm pretty down on shooting guns too. I can actually see the appeal of a bow and arrow." 

" _You_ ," Oliver emphasised, turning back to look at her. "Are not going to do anything. I'm not putting you any more danger." 

Felicity's eyes flashed with anger. "That's not a choice for you to make." 

"Felicity, this is too dangerous." 

"No, Oliver," Felicity said, her voice rising. "This is not something you get to decide. It's my life!" 

"Fe-li-ci-ty," he dragged her name out through clenched teeth. "It's not just your life anymore! I am not letting you risk both your lives!" 

"So just because I'm pregnant, I don't get to do the work I love anymore?" Her face was pink with anger and her hands were clenched on the arms rests of the chair. 

"No! I - Digg, help me our here," Oliver said, looking at their friend. 

Diggle held his hands up in surrender. "Hey, I'm not coming in between whatever you two have going on. But, for what it's worth, I think we won't survive a day without Felicity." 

"Well, I think, without me, you'll crash and burn in an hour, but, ha! Take that!" Felicity snapped in victory. Oliver ignored her and looked at John, who shrugged. 

"Hey, you said last year, when we brought her on board, that we'll protect her," he reminded Oliver. "We can still do that, Oliver. Protect both of them." 

Oliver looked between the two of them, knowing he was fighting a lost battle. He sighed in defeat. "Fine, but you work from here, no field work, and if you feel sick or tired, even a little bit, I'll take you home." 

Felicity gave him a wide grin, about to do a victory dance in her chair, when he interrupted her. "And since we're already talking about your personal security... I want you to move into the mansion." 

"No!" Her reply was instant.

"I'll give you two some space," Diggle said, walking off to the training dummies.

Felicity rose from the chair, ready to argue, and he put his hands on her shoulders to cut her off. 

"Hear me out first." She closed her mouth so he continued. "After today, your apartment is not safe, especially since you're now linked to me. The mansion has round the clock security." 

"You can protect me," Felicity interjected.

"I can protect you better at the mansion." He looked down at her flat stomach. "Besides, if we're going to be doing this, we should move in together so I can be there for you all the time." 

"And me moving in to the mansion is the only option?" 

"It's the safest one." When she sighed, he could see himself winning this argument. "Felicity, please! Do it for me." 

She looked up at him, and damn it, he was giving her the puppy dog eyes - those large, sad, pleading, heart warming puppy dog eyes. She felt warm deep inside, her resolve crumbling, and she nodded. He sighed in relief. 

"Okay. I'll move in with you." She sat back down on the chair, looking tired. The day had been a little too much for her. She sagged against the back of the chair, closing her eyes, before she jerked and sat up. "Wait, Oliver. Thea!" 

"What about my sister?" Oliver asked, furrowing his brows.

"She doesn't know me. How will she feel about a stranger moving into her home?" 

"Thea's met you, Felicity. She knows you." 

"Yes," she said, leaning forward. "As your _friend_ who brought flowers for your stepfather at the hospital!" 

Oliver opened his mouth and shut it again. He walked up to her and kneeled down in front of her so that he was at eye level with her. "How about I take you to dinner tonight, introduce you to Thea? Raisa will cook whatever you want to eat, and I'll make sure the food is free of nuts." 

Felicity contemplated that, chewing on her bottom lip. "Can we have dinner at my place? I'll cook something." 

Oliver nodded, smiling at her. "I'll let Thea know." She looked nervous, and he gently cupped her face. "Hey, it'll be fine. Thea will absolutely love you." 

"I don't know, Oliver," she turned her head away, taking a deep breathe and slowly releasing it. "She'll look at me as the gold digger who got knocked up by a billionaire, and when he died, sunk her claws into his best friend." 

"Don't," Oliver said sharply, turning her face back and forcing her to look at him. "Don't you ever think of yourself like that. You mean more to me than that. You know that." 

"But your sister doesn't know that," Felicity said, voice breaking. Her lower lip trembled, her eyes watering. Oliver's heart broke at the sight of her trembling and crying, and he pulled her to him, his arns wrapping around her tiny figure as hers locked around his neck. She buried her face in the crook of his neck. 

"Felicity," he said softly, running a hand through her golden curls. "We'll tell her the cover story. See if it works out. You have nothing to worry about. Once she meets you, Thea will love you. She won't be able to help it. Just like you made everyone else love you. That's just who you are. Do you understand?" 

Felicity nodded against his neck before pulling back. Her face had tear stains on it, and Oliver could feel the wetness on his suit jacket's collar. "I'm sorry for crying on you," she said, sniffing. "Stupid hormones! You shouldn't have to put up with it." 

"Hey, you've put up with me and my moods for almost nine months now. The least I can do is put up with yours for the next nine months." 

That got a laugh out of her, and Oliver smiled. 

"Well, that was all nice and cute," Diggle said, making them jump and pull away from each other, having forgotten about him. For someone who prided himself on his ability to stay attuned to his surroundings, Oliver was doing a really shitty job that day. 

Diggle had a huge smirk on his face, which made Felicity's face go red as a red velvet cupcake. "Hate to interrupt," he said, smirk growing wider. "But if you're going to be doing this while dinner thing, then you need to get home and start preparing." 

Felicity's eyes widened almost comically at that, earning her a chuckle from Oliver and a hearty laugh from Digg.

\--------------

 Preparing dinner for the sister of your boss, who was also helping you raise his best friend's baby, was the highest form of torture, Felicity had decided, devised by the devil himself. It didn't help that she barely had an afternoon to plan it all out, which, given her culinary skills, would have been enough, had she not been pregnant and in her first trimester, when the smell of basically every food item made her want to throw up. A spilled chicken stock and a nervous breakdown later Oliver had to call up Raisa, who not only managed to calm Felicity down but also instructed her on how to salvage her menu, the dinner table was laid out and Oliver and Felicity were perfectly dressed and composed to have a guest.  

Which, of course, went to hell when Thea turned up with a bottle of red wine, a Lafite Rothschild, and Felicity burst into tears, realising she would not be able to taste the nectar that she had dreamed of since that day in her office when Oliver promised her one. 

Thea Queen, God bless her, held her composure, and definitely did not freak out when her host for the evening started crying upon seeing her. Being the empathic soul of her family, she immediately went up to console Felicity, even though she'd only ever fleetingly met her twice before. She pushed the wine bottle into her brother's hands and wrapped her own around the sobbing woman, gently caressing her back till she calmed down. 

While all this went on, Oliver moved to where Diggle was standing at the doorway, hands clasped in front of him. "Thanks for picking up and dropping my sister." 

 Digg shrugged. "Just doing my job. The one I'm actually paid for." 

Oliver looked back towards Felicity, who was now wiping her tears and rambling an apology to Thea for being a blubbering mess. He turned back to Digg. "Is there any way I can convince you to stay for dinner?" 

Diggle chuckled and gave Oliver a sympathetic look. "You chose to deal with this, man. You're on your own." 

With a strained look on his face, Oliver closed the door behind Diggle. When he turned around, Thea had Felicity seated on the couch as she handed her a glass of water. 

"I feel worse now," Felicity was saying. "You're my guest, and you've barely been in my house for a few minutes and I've cried all over you and now I'm making you give me a glass of water when it should be the other way round. This is the worst first impression I could have made. I swear I'm not normally like this, but today has been a very trying day, and God, I don't mean to dump my problems on you -" 

"Felicity!" Oliver interrupted her, and she pressed her lips together. Thea looked at her, amused, before turning to her brother. 

"I like her, Ollie. Where'd you get her from?" 

 Oliver rolled his eyes, but smiled anyway. He walked over to the couch, standing beside Felicity, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Speedy, I would like you to meet my girlfriend, Felicity Smoak." 

A tingle shot through Felicity's spine at the word 'girlfriend'. Even though they had discussed their story before, this was the first time they actually used it. Felicity had to remind herself that it wasn't real. That he was only doing this for her baby.  _Tommy's baby._

Thea raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms across her chest. There was a smirk on her face. "You know, I knew something was going on between you two back when you came to the hospital with flowers for Walter. I'm kind of upset you didn't tell me before."

"We were only friends back then," Felicity quickly corrected her. "This is a... New development."

"New development," Thea scoffed. "How new is 'new'?"

Oliver sighed. "Thea, Felicity and I have something to tell you." He contemplated how to tell her the news. Since returning from the island, Oliver preferred to keep things straight and simple. He looked at Felicity, who was looking at him with her bottom lip between her teeth. He decided to go with straight and simple. "Thea, Felicity and I are having a baby." 

Thea's eyes widened and her eyebrows shot up. She blinked a few times, processing, before a huge grin covered her face. "Congratulations, you two!" 

She got up and threw her arms around her brother, who in turn wrapped his own around her. Seeing how happy his sister was made him feel guilty. He felt like a fraud. He looked at Felicity over Thea's shoulders. She had tears in her eyes, but they seemed like the happy type. She looked at him like she understood his thoughts, like she could see through to his guilt, and she shook her head at him, silently telling him to drop those thoughts. 

Thea pulled away from Oliver and carefully, hesitantly wrapped her arms around Felicity, who returned the hug just as hesitantly. When they pulled away and Oliver sat on the couch next to Felicity, Thea said, "I'm really happy for you guys! How far along are you?" 

"Not long," Felicity said, her nervousness slowly melting away. "Close to two months now. I still haven't been able to see a doctor yet, with the hospitals being full and it being so unsafe outside." 

"Oh my God, the shooting today!" Thea exclaimed. "You were there. Are you both alright?" 

"We're all fine, Speedy," Oliver said. "Mr. Diggle pushed me out of the way, and Laurel saved Felicity." 

"Laurel, huh?" Thea said. Felicity nodded. Thea continued, "Are you safe over here? Maybe you should move into the mansion, where we have round the clock security." 

"That's exactly what I told her," Oliver said. "She was worried about what you might think." 

"I don't want to impose -" Felicity started, but Thea interrupted her. 

"Felicity, you would never impose. Besides, you're practically family." 

Felicity's eye teared teared up again. Thea panicked. "Oh, God. Please don't cry again!" 

"I'm sorry," Felicity said, wiping her tears. "It's been a really long day." 

Oliver patted her back. "Come on, let's have dinner before you get too tired." 

The table had already been laid out, and Thea helped Felicity bring out the dishes. As the three of them sat down to eat, Thea joked, "I guess that means no wine today, huh? Is that why you started crying earlier when I came?" 

"Felicity loves red wine. In fact, I had once promised her a bottle of the Rothschild." Oliver informed Thea. 

"You can go ahead and have it, Thea," Felicity told her. "I won't mind." 

"It's fine, really. Ollie still gets a panic attack every time I'm near alcohol." 

Oliver held his fork up as he finished chewing, ready to argue with her, but Thea waved her hand and did not give him the opportunity. She turned to Felicity, cupping her hands under her chin, her elbows resting on the table. 

"So, Felicity," she started, but then grimaced. "Your name's a mouthful. I'm gonna call you Liss? No, Fee. I like Fee. Do you like Fee? I think I'm going to call you Fee." 

Felicity laughed. "Wow, and here I thought I talked a lot. Yes, Thea, you can call me Fee."

"Good. So, Fee, tell me, how did you two meet? How long have you two known each other?"

Felicity met Oliver's eyes. He sat back in his chair, and gestured with his hands for her to talk. 

"We met almost nine months ago at QC. Oliver needed help with some technical issues and I helped him out." 

"You work in IT?" Thea asked.

"Felicity is our best," Oliver said, pride reflecting in his eyes. "Which is why she is going to be head of the IT Department once QC reopens."  

Felicity blushed at the compliment. "I won't argue with you on that. I am the best you'll ever have." She cringed as soon as the words were out of her mouth. "I meant you as in QC, and best you'll have in IT, not like best you'll ever have in bed. Obviously, that is something only you can decide, and I'm -"

Thea clapped her hands over her ears. "La la la la. I don't want to hear anymore! Can we just pretend that you swallowed some magic egg and the baby will come once it hatches?" 

Oliver laughed at that, while Felicity buried her face in her hands. "Oh God, my brain always does this, thinks of the worst ways of saying things!" 

Thea laughed. "I like that about you. You know, Ollie, all those months when you stayed out late and came up with the worst excuses? You could have just introduced us, or told us about her, and we would have understood." 

Felicity flushed red at the implication behind her words. She got up from the table. "Does anyone want dessert? I've got mint chocolate chip ice cream."

She hurried away into the kitchen, Thea's teasing laughter ringing behind. She grabbed three bowls and her carton of ice cream. The rest of the dinner passed in a similar manner - lots of teasing on Thea's part, blushing on Felicity's, and surprisingly, lots of laughing and smiling on Oliver's. When dinner was over, Thea insisted on helping them do the dishes, something she had never done before but really enjoyed doing with them. When Thea got up to leave, Felicity felt sad to watch her go.

"You could stay the night," Felicity offered, before realising that her guest room was still full of Tommy's things. She had no room for Thea. "If you don't mind sleeping in my bed with me, that is." 

"Thanks, but I think I'll go home. I'll have your room at the mansion set up and ready for you." 

"Speedy, it's not safe out there," Oliver said. "Let me drive you home." 

Felicity scoffed. "What will you drive? My Mini? Like that would happen. Remember the last time we were in it, the backseat was so small for you and the trouble I had pulling you out of it?" 

Thea smirked. "Do I even want to know what you were doing in the backseat of the car?" 

Felicity's eyes widened as she realised what her words sounded like. Oliver buried his face in his palm, whether trying to hide his embarrassment or amusement she wasn't sure. 

"I think I'll call Mr. Diggle and have him pick me up. Besides, I don't think you want to leave Fee alone at this time of night." 

Oliver did not argue with her after that. While Digg was on his way, Felicity packed a Tupperware box with some chicken and potatoes from dinner. She handed it to Thea. "Give it to John, will you?" 

Thea accepted it from her. "Should I be offended that you're on first name basis with his bodyguard and pack dinners for him when it's the first time I got to really meet you?" She teased. 

"Well, if it's anyone's fault," Felicity said. "It's your brother's. Why don't you take it up with him?" 

Thea grinned. "Hey, Ollie," she called out to her brother. "I'm keeping your girlfriend!" 

Oliver appeared suddenly behind Felicity, startling her, as his arm laced around her waist. His touch sent bolts of electricity through her body, and she couldn't help but lean into him just a little. "Keep dreaming, Speedy. I won't let anyone take her away from me." 

Even though his voice was teasing, Felicity felt a deeper meaning in his words. The words may have been aimed as a teasing remark, but she knew that they were a promise to her, that he would protect her and keep her safe and stay by her side. The realisation made her feel all warm inside. 

"Well, Mr. Diggle is here," Thea said. She hugged Felicity warmly. "I had a nice time tonight, Fee. Thanks for inviting me." 

Felicity hugged her back. "Anytime, Thea. Like you said, we're practically family." 

She hugged her brother, wished them goodnight and left. As soon as the door closed behind her, Felicity sagged against Oliver, and he tightened his hold on her to keep her upright. 

"Tired?" He asked her, concern lacing his voice. 

"So tired," she moaned against him. "Today has been a very long day." She looked up at him though her glasses to find that he was looking down at her. "Take me to bed?" She said and then scrunched up her face. "Not take me to bed like,  _take me to bed,_ but more like take me to  _my_ bed so that I can sleep in  _my_ bed and God, why do I keep saying  _bed -"_

She cut off with a gasp as Oliver swiftly bent and picked her up bridal style to literally carry her to her bed. Felicity rested her face against his chest and sighed. "Oliver Queen, I have never been so grateful for your arms before." He chuckled, the sound vibrating through his chest into her. "You know, I might just make you carry me everywhere in your arms for the rest of the pregnancy. My personal bicep chariot."

"And I will do that gladly," he said sincerely as he laid her down on her bed. He started to pull away when Felicity stopped him. 

"Will you sleep with me?" She asked, and sighed. "I meant - well, you know what I meant. Platonically. Will you sleep in my bed, platonically, with me? Because I slept really well last night, better than the last few weeks, and I hope that you slept well too." 

Oliver sat down on the bed next to her, hand moving to tick a stray blonde strand of her hair behind her ear. "Yes, Felicity, I will sleep in your bed, platonically, with you. And yes, I slept well last night too, better than I've slept in over five years." 

Felicity smiled at him as she leaned her face into his hand. He smiled back at her. "Do you need to change?" 

Felicity shook her head. "Mm, too tired, and this dress is comfortable enough." 

Oliver nodded. He got up and pulled off his shirt, his muscles flexing. He took his belt off but kept his dress pants on, lifting the covers to climb into bed with her. He mimicked their position from the previous night, laying her half sprawled across his chest, his arm curling around her waist. His palm rested against the small of her back and her rubbed gentle circles across it, his heat radiating through her dress. 

Felicity closed her eyes and sighed against him. "Months of admiring that beautiful body on the salmon ladder and I finally have you half naked in my bed," she mumbled against him. He laughed out loud, the vibrations in his chest helping lull her to sleep. "I am not going to bother apologising for my exhausted, sleep addled brain or the broken brain to mouth filter anymore." 

"Sleep, Felicity," he muttered into her hair. 

With his hand gently caressing her back, his breathe blowing through her hair and his gentle voice lulling her, she slowly fell into a deep, peaceful sleep, knowing that he was there to protect her, to keep her safe.

\----------------- 

 

To get regular updates of the story, follow me on tumblr @ [multi-fandom-crazy-fangirl. ](http://multi-fandom-crazy-fangirl.tumblr.com/)

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Finally got that done! God, that ending! 
> 
> Don't forget to leave your votes in the comments section! 
> 
> Reminder, these are your options:  
> 1) Boy  
> 2) Girl  
> 3) Twins - boy + boy  
> 4) Twins - boy + girl 
> 
> The poll will end on 25th of June. 
> 
> Reviews feed my muse! Don't forget to leave some :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I suck. This update has been long overdue. Two months, in fact. I was going through some personal problems, then a school trip without my phone or laptop, and then my pet died, so reality really became difficult for me. You all have been very patient for this update, and I've made it long, over 5k words. 
> 
> I would recommend you follow me on my tumblr @multi-fandom-crazy-fangirl.tumblr.com where I upload regular updates on the story like sneak peaks and minor spoilers. It will also let you know when to expect the next update. That said, I would like to inform all of you that I have some major exams coming this month, so the next update won't be before the first week of September. 
> 
> In the meantime, if you like, you can also check out my other stories. I have a series of Olicity AUs and a smut series. I will also be uploading my Olicity Instagram series soon, which can also be found on my tumblr account. 
> 
> Thank you. Love, Cat.
> 
> Without further ado, here's your chapter:

Thea Queen was a force to be reckoned with, Felicity realized soon. The tiny body of hers contained more energy than her brother on the salmon ladder (and note that Oliver on the salmon ladder was not a topic to be treated lightly). The eighteen year old had, overnight, managed to set up a whole string of rooms for Felicity to settle into and use as an office, even keeping aside a small storage room for Felicity’s computers. She also managed to set up an appointment with the Queen family doctor for Felicity.

It all made Felicity realize she still had one thing pending that she really needed to do – clear out Tommy’s belongings from her guest room.

Laurel came over that Saturday. Felicity had kicked Oliver out for the day (“Laurel is my guest and things have been awkward between the two of you and I’ll be damned if I make her feel uncomfortable, so you go do whatever manly, brooding thing you have to do or push-ups or some weird exercise thing with Digg.”) The first few minutes alone with Laurel had been tense to say the least, neither woman knowing what to say to the other. Felicity felt too nervous to even ramble, a first for her.

Laurel broke the silence when she held up a bag of butter popcorn. “Apparently, whole grains are good for pregnant women, and popcorn is a whole grain. I googled it,” she said. “Also, it doesn’t have much of a smell to revolt you.”

Felicity tackled her in a hug at that, her eyes tearing up as she babbled a quick apology and went on about how considerate she was. She stopped talking abruptly when they entered the guest room.

Felicity had taken out all of Tommy’s belongings from the dresser and the drawers, not that there was more than two bagsful of his things, and placed them on and near the bed one night while Oliver had been out patrolling and she was having a hard time falling asleep without him. Laurel stopped short when she took in the sight.

Felicity placed a hand on her arm. “I’m sorry, Laurel,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “I know this is going to be painful, but I want you to know that I am here to help you. I’ve heard that suppressing your emotions and thoughts can become mentally fatiguing, and talking about it with someone really helps. Not that I would know much about that, since my problem seems to be over-sharing and not under-sharing...” she bit her lip, stopping herself from going off on a tangent. “Point is, I can be a good listener if you want one.”

Laurel looked at the blonde, the woman she had met only three times before, showing her more compassion empathy than anyone. “Thank you, Felicity. I’ll keep that in mind,” she whispered.

Felicity smiled at her and gave her arm a gentle squeeze before pulling her into the room. “Come on, let’s get this started,” she said, bending down to grab a cardboard box of clothes.

\-----

It took the girls exactly two and a half hours to complete the work. Tommy did not have much with him when he came to stay at Felicity’s, and most of it was already segregated into bags. All the while, Laurel and Felicity struck up an easy conversation. Felicity talked about her work, her love for computers and technology, and her apprehension over her promotion to head of IT. Laurel talked about old times with Tommy and Oliver, back when Oliver was still ‘Ollie’ and careless and a troublemaker. They passed the popcorn back and forth while dividing Tommy’s clothes and shoes and other belongings into piles that could be donated to the victims of the earthquake. With every passing minute, the pain in both their chests lessened as a new bond was formed between the two women. Nothing brings two people closer than the pain of a shared loss.     

When they had closed and taped close the last box, Felicity let out a sigh and stretched, massaging the cramps out of her lower back. “Do me a favour,” she said, “Don’t tell Oliver about all the bending I did today.”

Laurel shifted one of the boxes on the bed to make place for herself, sitting by the edge with one leg crossed under her. She played with her fingers as she stared at Felicity for a long, hard moment. “Can I ask you something personal?” she asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Felicity replied, taking her own place on the bed, shifting a bit to rest against the head board. She waited for Laurel to gather her thoughts together. She knew where the conversation was headed.

“You and Ollie,” Laurel started, “When did it... How long... How did it happen?”

Felicity sighed and leaned back. She debated on how to start for a few moments. “When Oliver was rescued from that island, he was so pathetically handicapped when it came to all things technological, it wasn’t even funny. His computer system looked like something from the stone age.” She smiled fondly, remembering her first night in the foundry. “Obviously, he needed help, and Walter recommended me to him. He came to me with his laptop first, completed busted up, and we just – we hit off from the first moment. After that, he kept coming to me for computer problems, with the worst excuses imaginable, and even though I could see through them, I helped him.”

Laurel looked at her with understanding. “He can get really irresistible when he turns that charming smile on,” she said.

“No, that’s not it,” Felicity argued, turning completely to look at her. “I know I never knew him before the island, but the Oliver who returned from the island was– is not the Ollie from before, and you can’t expect him to be that person, Laurel. He’s gone through so much, so much of hurt, so much of pain...” She screwed her eyes shut, as if the thought of what he experienced during his five years away brought her physical pain. “That kind of a thing – it changes you, changes the very core of who you are. And when Oliver came back, he needed someone to understand him, to see him for what he is now and not what he was before, to strip him of all expectations and prejudices and the judgements and all the misconceptions and the preconceived ideas of the kind of man he is...” She broke off, her throat closing in with emotion, her eyes watering.

Laurel reached out a covered her hand with her own, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Are you okay?”

‘Yeah,” Felicity sniffled, pulling off her glasses and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “Sorry. Hormones.”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize for that.” She waited for Felicity to be composed again. “How far along are you?”

“Not far. 9 weeks. Still in my first trimester, the gross part, with all the vomiting,” she answered, wrinkling her nose.  

“9 weeks,” Laurel echoed. “That’s... 2 weeks before the earthquake.”

“Yes,” Felicity said cautiously, realizing where Laurel was headed.

“Ollie... slept with... me... the day before the...” Laurel said slowly. She whipped her head around to look at Felicity, her eyes hard. “You were already pregnant and he cheated on you with me.”

“I know what you’re going to say,” Felicity said quickly. “That is something that ‘Ollie’ would do. But Oliver and I weren’t... together, like exclusive. It was just physical. And Oliver – he was still in love with you. Afterwards, when he found out about the baby... We decided to give us a try for him. Or her. It wasn’t – he didn’t cheat on me, Laurel. Oliver would never do that.” As soon as she said that, Laurel’s face fell, and Felicity realized her error. “I’m sorry, I did not mean that he would cheat on you! I just – I meant to say he’s changed. God, why do I even open my mouth!”

“Felicity,” Laurel interjected, “it’s alright. I get it. I get what you're saying.”

“You do? Because even I don’t know half the stuff I say some times. It’s like my brain refuses to understand the mechanism of a thought filter or word filter or any filter, really...” She heard Laurel chuckle, and couldn’t resist smiling. “I just proved my point, didn’t I?”

“Felicity Smoak,” Laurel said, shaking her head, “you are something else entirely.”

\--------

Laurel left later in the evening, after having a friendly lunch and helping Felicity finish her own packing for her move to the Queen Mansion the next day. They parted cheerfully, with a friendly hug and a promise to meet up the next Saturday for brunch. As soon as the door closed behind her, it was like a switch flipped in her, and she went from happy to depressed in seconds.  She dragged herself over to the couch and curled up on it, staring off at no particular spot on her rug. It was in this position that Oliver found her half an hour later.

“Felicity!” he hurried over to her, panic building up in his chest. He knelt down in front of her, running a hand through her hair and tucking it behind her ear. “What's wrong? Are you okay? Is the baby okay?”

Felicity looked up at him with blank eyes. “Why are you here?”

“What?” he asked, eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

“With me,” she cleared. “You love Laurel. You’ve always been in love with her. With Tommy gone, you could be with her. But you’re not. Instead you’re here with me, the plain old, boring IT girl who got knocked up by another man. When you could be with Gorgeous Laurel.”

“Felicity,” Oliver said, taken aback. “Where is this coming from? Was it something Laurel said? I’ll go talk with her now-”

“No,” Felicity interrupted him, her voice sharp like the edge of his arrowheads. “Laurel has been a wonderful friend to me all day. Don’t you dare say anything to her!”

“Then what is it?” he asked her, almost desperately, his hand moving to gently palm her cheek. She leaned away from him, and a jolt of pain akin to an arrow through his chest shot through him.

“I want to be alone,” she said roughly, her voice heavy. He flinched, and to lessen the sting of her harsh tone, she added, “Please.”

Oliver nodded. “I’ll be one phone call away if you need me,” he said.

When she didn’t reply, he got up and left. The tears started leaking from her eyes the moment the door shut behind him. She pressed her face into a cushion as a sob escaped her lips. She didn’t know why she was crying. But she couldn’t control herself. All the pain, all the hurt, all the loneliness, the disappointment she had felt and suppressed in the last two months burst out of her with every sob and every cry. With every tear that rolled down her cheeks, the pressing burden of her emotions lessened. It felt good to let go, so she did just that.

She didn’t know how long she stayed like that. Once her tears ran dry, she suddenly missed Oliver. She didn’t want to be alone anymore. Feeling exhausted from the emotional breakdown, she wanted nothing more than to feel Oliver’s strong, safe arms hold her as she slept. She lifted her head from the cushion, resting her hands on the back of the couch for leverage as she got up, and promptly fell back as a wave of dizziness hit her. The world spun around her as she tried to reach for her phone on the coffee table, just short of arm’s length away from her. Digging her knees into the couch, she leaned forward, ignoring the throbbing in her temples or the nausea building in her. Just as she grabbed her phone she fell forward off the couch right onto the rug, hitting her head against the edge of the coffee table. Just barely coherent, she unlocked her phone with unsteady hands, hitting call on her first Emergency Contact – Oliver.

“Felicity?” he answered on the first ring.

She tried to talk, opened her mouth but all that came out was a huff that sounded like his name before she fell to the ground, darkness closing in on her.

\-----

When Felicity woke up, it was dark in the unfamiliar room. Her head hurt and her eyelids were heavy with drowsiness. She was facing a large window, and through slightly hazy eyes she saw the Starling City skyline. She took a deep breath, shifting slightly into a more comfortable position, groaning when the movement made her head throb more.

Oliver was at her side in an instant. “Hey,” he said softly, caressing her cheek with the back of his hand as he sat at the edge of her bed. Felicity leaned into his touch and sighed in contentment, her eyes shutting of their own accord.

“Hi,” she croaked back, and cleared her throat. Oliver held up a glass of water to her lips, tilting it just enough for the water to trickle into her mouth without falling down. Felicity gulped it down, coughing a bit when she choked on it in her hurry. “Thanks,” she whispered.

Oliver put the glass away and wiped at the corner of her mouth with his thumb. Her eyes darted to his finger as it lingered a second too long on her skin before he placed his hand on the other side of her head, essentially cocooning her in his warmth and his leather-woodsy-manly smell.

Although she had just had a glassful of water, Felicity felt her lips go dry. Her tongue darted out to wet them. “Where are we?” she asked him. 

“Starling General,” he replied, his eyes on hers. “Felicity... you scared me. Do you remember what happened?”

Felicity blinked, trying to remember through the throbbing of her head. “After you had left... I don’t know how long, but I got up and felt dizzy. I called you, but I fell and hit my head... How bad was it?”

“It’s almost 1 a.m. Monday morning,” Oliver said. “You were unconscious for around 30 hours, Felicity. You had hit your head against the coffee table. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. When I got your call and you didn’t say anything, Felicity... ” his voice broke, and Felicity wanted to comfort him, but their position wouldn’t allow it without it getting awkward. “You scared me, Felicity,” he whispered, his voice barely audible. “When I reached you, you weren’t moving. I got you here as fast as I could. The doctor said you were fine, no damage done, but you weren’t waking up and I couldn’t do anything but sit and wait for you to wake up.”

Felicity’s eyes widened, panicked, and her hand flew to her belly. “The baby...”

“Is safe,” Oliver said, lifting a hand to cover hers on her belly. “Most probably.”

“Most probably?” Felicity squeaked. She made a move to sit up, but Oliver placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed her to lie back down.

“Hey, you need to be resting. I’ll call the doctor.”

Felicity ignored him. “What do you mean, ‘most probably’? Did something happen? Did I hurt it when I fell? Was it-”

 “Felicity!” Oliver cut though her rant, and she stared at him, eyes watering. He cupped her cheeks with both hands, and she took a shaky breath to steady herself. “We still need to do an ultrasound to check on the baby, but otherwise she’s fine.”

“She?” Felicity whispered.

Oliver shrugged. “Calling her ‘it’ feels weird, and... I would like her to be a girl.” He tried to appear casual, nonchalant, but Felicity saw through it. She could see the hope in his eyes as he spoke about the baby. He really wanted a family. This family. A few drops of tears escaped her eyes at that realization. “Hey,” Oliver said gently. “What’s wrong?”

Felicity shook her head, closing her eyes to hold back the tears. “I want a boy.”

Oliver let out a surprised laugh at that. Felicity grinned at him, and then pushed him away and off the bed. “Now go call the doctor. I want to check up on my baby.”

\-----

Doctor Ed Johnson had been the Queen Family doctor for almost 4 decades now. He was a short man with whitening hair and lines all over his face. His eyes shined with joy as he shook hands with Felicity – the woman who had finally tamed the wild Ollie Queen. She was about to correct him, that Oliver was not the Ollie he was before, had not been for some time, that he wasn’t ‘wild’ anymore (unless you count his tendency to jump off of rooftops and shoot arrows through bad guys in his own rendition of Robin Hood and His Little Band of Merry Men, not that she could mention that to the good doctor), but she kept her mouth shut. Despite the late hour, the doc seemed to be wide awake.

“Well, Ms. Smoak,” he said, looking over her chart in a fashion most typical to doctors. “The good news is that both you and your baby are fine. I wouldn’t say perfectly healthy, yet. You still need to get an ultrasound. I believe you have one scheduled for...” he turned a few pages to check “10 a.m. in the morning. Now, regarding you, Ms. Smoak,” he said, turning to face her, tucking the clipboard under his arm. “You experienced light-headedness and fatigue because you were too stressed or emotionally or mentally strained. You were also physically exhausted, and your body couldn’t take the pressure.”

Oliver gave Felicity a look from where he stood by the head of the bed. “You should have let me help you pack up.”

Felicity bristled at that. “I had Laurel’s help. I didn’t do anything alone.”

Oliver opened his mouth to argue, but Doctor Johnson cut him off. “My point is, you need to be more careful about your health. I should remind you that most chances of miscarriages happening are in the first 12-14 weeks of the pregnancy. You, Ms. Smoak, need to refrain from any and all stressful activities in the coming weeks till you are mostly free from the threat of a miscarriage.”

Felicity’s eyes widened in panic at the doctor’s words and she looked at Oliver. He understood what was going through her mind. _How could she avoid stress with their night job?_

 “You need to eat more to keep up your physical strength,” Dr. Johnson continued. “Your obstetrician will prescribe a diet and prenatal medicines for you...” He trailed off, just taking note of the unspoken conversation taking place between his patients. “Is something the matter?” he asked slowly.

“It’s just-” Felicity started but stopped, not knowing what to say exactly.

“Felicity’s just become the head of IT at Queen Consolidated,” Oliver covered smoothly. “The coming weeks will be very stressful for both of us while we try to get the company started again.”

The Doc pursed his lips. “Well, I'm no corporate expert, but I would suggest you get someone, like an assistant, who can constantly help out Ms. Smoak and relieve her of some of her work pressure.”

Felicity chewed on her lip as she processed that. “I’ll keep that in mind, Doctor.”

“Well, then,” the doctor said with a huge grin splitting his face, “I’ll let you both rest, and, Ms. Smoak, Mr. Queen, congratulations.”

He closed the door behind him as he left, and Oliver moved to sit down in the chair at Felicity’s bedside and sighed. Felicity let her head fall back on the pillow before turning it to face him. She opened her mouth to speak but Oliver beat her to it.

“We’re not talking about it right now,” he said curtly.

“You don’t even know what I was going to say,” she argued.

Oliver gave her a flat look. One eyebrow arched slightly, attracting her attention to it. Her eyes darted over his face, and not for the first time she appreciated the beauty in his features. His eyes, the perfect blue eyes, stared into her, as if looking right through her. His cheekbones looked sharp enough to cut through glass, yet soft enough for her to caress with the tips of her fingers. His lips were plump, the lower lip just a little bit more than the top, and she ached to draw it between her own teeth and suck on it with her lips... Felicity blinked hard, her cheeks warming from where her thoughts had wandered off to.

“You were about to, very firmly, declare that there is nothing I can do to keep you out of the foundry and away from our night-time activities,” he said, and Felicity had to mentally shake herself to focus on his words. She felt like shouting out, _Yo, hormones, get a hold of yourselves!_ “And I would argue back with you,” Oliver continued, “and I really don’t want to do this right now at one a.m. when you should be resting.”

“But-”

“Felicity,” he said firmly, emphasizing every syllable in her name, “rest now. We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”

Felicity opened her mouth and closed it again, sighing in resignation. “Fine,” she said, “but on one condition: Get into this bed with me.”

Oliver stared at her, and then huffed out a laugh, shaking his head. “Someone is desperate.”               

She tilted her head in the manner that was so typically Felicity. “You know what I mean. As comfortable as this bed is, one of the perks of being a Queen, I'm sure, I have become accustomed to sleeping next to you. This bed is big enough for the two of us to fit in, yet another perk of being a Queen, I'm sure, and you would be more comfortable sleeping here than in that tiny chair that will definitely leave you with a sore neck and back in the morning.”

“I've slept on worse,” he said, but even as he said it he got up and helped Felicity scoot over to make space for him. He pulled the sheets back and settled in next to her, lifting her enough to slip an arm under her and letting her snuggle into his side, pulling the sheets back to cover her once again.

Felicity sighed into him, and Oliver closed his eyes in contentment. It was strange how one event had caused their relationship to shift to vastly. Before the earthquake, before Felicity got pregnant, the most they ever touched each other was when Oliver was injured and Digg wasn’t around to patch him up. Every Freudian slip of hers around him would bring a deep red blush to her cheeks. She definitely wouldn’t dare to proposition him into her bed back then. Now... they couldn’t stay away from each other for long. He was sleeping in the same bed as her, holding her, _cuddling_ with her.

“What are you thinking about?” Oliver asked her, not opening his eyes, his voice slowly taking on a sleepy tone.

“Hmm, nothing important,” she mumbled sleepily. A large yawn covered her face. “One would think that after being unconscious for 30 hours, I wouldn’t be this tired, but-”

 Another yawn, this time louder, interrupted her. Oliver turned over on his side and pulled Felicity into him, wrapping his arms around her. “You need the rest. Sleep, Felicity.”

Felicity stared at his chest right in front of her. Cocooned in the safety and warmth of his arms, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to sink into him.

\----

The next time Felicity woke up, it was to a gentle movement against her belly. Sometime over the night she had turned over onto her back, and Oliver was on his side next to her, propped up on an elbow. It was his hand drawing soft circles on her belly that had woken her up. She squirmed slightly under him, the sensation tickling her.

“What are you doing?” she asked him, her voice husky from sleep.

Oliver had his eyes on the spot on her abdomen that he was caressing. Without looking up, he answered, his voice awestruck. “There’s a baby bump here.”

Felicity jerked her head up to look at where he was indicating. Caught under his body, her hospital gown had tightened over her abdomen, with a slightly swollen part standing out. “Oliver,” she said slowly, her voice amused. “That’s not a baby bump. That’s my muffin top.”

“Oh,” he said, looking up at her, his cheeks pink.

“Yeah,” Felicity chuckled at his obvious embarrassment and disappointment. He was silent for a few moments. His hand hadn’t stopped caressing her belly, and it was causing heat to pool up in her stomach. She was almost on the verge of falling asleep again when Oliver’s voice woke her.

“Are you sure?” he asked, almost stubbornly.

“Hmm, wha’?” Felicity mumbled, opening her eyes, blinking to focus on him.

Oliver saw her blink and removed the hand from her stomach just long enough to grab her glasses off the bedside table and offered them to her. “I didn’t give them to you last night because the weight of the glasses would have hurt your head more.”

“It’s okay,” she said, putting them on. “I can see well enough without them, just can’t go too long without wearing them. Gives me a migraine, staring at all my computer screens without them.”

“Hmm,” he made a mental note of the fact. “So, are you sure?”

Felicity scrunched up her eyebrows in confusion as she looked at him. “Sure?”

“This,” he said, flattening his palm against the spot he had been fascinated with. “Are you sure it’s not a baby bump?”

“Oliver,” she drawled. “It’s not a baby bump. Trust me, I know my body, and that is what we women like to call a muffin top.”

Oliver huffed and shook his head in an almost childlike manner that had her gaping at him. “No, I'm pretty sure this wasn’t there before, or I would have seen it or felt it before.”

“I'm flattered, Oliver,” she said, “I really am, that you thought I was that thin or noticed my body before, but you haven’t seen me shirtless or naked before - not that I want you to see me shirtless or naked now, I mean, of course I want you to see me shirtless or naked, because I've already seen you shirtless, multiple times, so it’s fair that you see me shirtless too, and not because of any other reasons that would require me to be naked around you and- Good God, why aren’t you stopping me!”

Oliver was looking at her with his lips pressed together, not that it did much to hide his obvious amusement, and Felicity buried her face in his chest in embarrassment. “I swear my brain is the worst!”

Oliver laughed. “Well, I happen to like your brain, broken filter and all.”

“Yeah, then how about this,” she challenged, “this brain that you happen to like so much is saying that _that_ ,” she pressed his palm to her belly as an indication, “is a muffin top and not a baby bump.”

Oliver started to speak, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. Thea pushed her head in. “Hi, am I interrupting?”

Felicity turned and gave her a brilliant smile. “Not at all, Thea. Come on in.”

Thea entered the room, holding a basket of assorted cupcakes and muffins.

“Hey, Speedy,” Oliver said, untangling himself from Felicity as he got up off the bed, stretching his arms to remove the kinks from them and helped Felicity sit up on the bed. 

“Ollie,” Thea greeted him, turning to Felicity and handing the basket over to her. “For you.”

Felicity inhaled the fresh, warm aroma of the goodies. “Mmm, thank you, Thea,” she said with a sigh. “You didn’t have to, but nonetheless, thank you.”

“Of course I had to,” the younger Queen said. “How are you? Heard you gave my brother quite a scare.”

“I'm fine, thank you. In fact, I had started to have a craving for muffins just now because of our discussion, so thank you for these.” She looked at Oliver pointedly. “Your sister got me muffins. She’s on my side.”

“How is that taking your side?” he asked, pulling up a chair for Thea.

“Because,” she grabbed a muffin from the basket, placing the rest on the table, “ _this,”_ she showed him the top of the muffin, “is a muffin top. Now you can compare and see that I was right.”

Thea quirked an eyebrow at them. “What are you two talking about?” she asked incredulously.

“Oliver thinks I have a baby bump.”

“It is a baby bump!”

“It’s not a baby bump,” Felicity told Thea. “It’s my muffin top.”

“Muffin tops are supposed to be soft and squishy,” Oliver argued. “Your bump is hard.”

“Oh my God!” Thea exclaimed, covering her mouth to hold back her giggles at the ridiculousness of their argument.

Felicity gave him an exasperated look. “That’s because I'm pregnant, you oaf. My belly won’t be ‘soft and squishy’.”

Thea laughed hearing her brother being called an oaf. Oliver looked at her wryly, which only made her giggle more. “You have an appointment with your OB/GYN today, right, to get an ultrasound?” she asked Felicity, who nodded. “Why don’t you ask them today whether it is a baby bump or not?” she suggested.

“That is a wonderful idea,” Felicity grinned at Thea.

Oliver sighed and shook his head. “Fine. I’ll let you two talk while I get some coff-some herbal tea for us. Speedy, do you want anything?”

His sister shook her head. “I had breakfast. But I wouldn’t mind some of that tea if you’re getting it from someplace good and not the hospital cafeteria.”

Oliver left, and Thea turned to Felicity. “Are you excited for your first ultrasound?”

Felicity grinned at her. When Oliver returned, twenty minutes later, Felicity had freshened up and changed into her own clothes and was sitting on the bed while Thea braided her hair in a fish tail. Diggle, who had driven Thea over and got Felicity fresh clothes, was standing by the window, his stoic expression broken by the amusement in his eyes. Felicity had filled them both in on her condition, receiving a knowing look from Digg when she mentioned ‘stressful activities’. Then Thea and Felicity had filled him in on the ‘baby bump v/s muffin top’ argument from the morning. He had laughed, a full belly laugh, so hard, Felicity could have sworn she saw a few tears leak through his eyes. So when Oliver returned and handed Thea and Felicity their cups of tea and walked over to where Digg was, the ex-soldier couldn’t help tease him.

“Who would’ve thought that the big bad Arrow turns to mush at the sight of a little bump!” he whisper mocked his friend.

Oliver gave him a sour look. “I did not turn to mush. I do not do mushy.”

Diggle chuckled. “Whatever you say, man. But you do know that Felicity is always right.”

Oliver crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the window. “That’s a baby bump, I know it,” he said stubbornly.

Diggle stared at his friend, seeing him in a different light. It surprised him how quickly Oliver had taken on the role of an expecting father. Times like these, it was easy to forget that the baby was not Oliver’s. He had been nothing but supportive towards Felicity, taking care of her, looking after her. It was a testament to how much he had grown in his five years away, and it reminded Diggle that there were many masks of Oliver Queen, and he was only just starting to get a glimpse at the man behind those masks.

 “Thea and I have a bet going on,” Diggle said lightly, “on whether you will brood and pout when the doctor proves you wrong. Now I regret taking your side, man.”

“Whatever. How much are you losing?”

“Oh, we didn’t bet on money. If she wins, I tell her some juicy gossip on you and Felicity. Apparently, she’s deemed me her fellow ‘Olicity’ shipper.”

“‘Olicity’?” Oliver asked with a raised eyebrow, the corner of his mouth tilted upwards.

“Oliver + Felicity,” Diggle clarified. “It’s a thing, fusing together the names of the people you pair up, or ‘ship’.”

“And we’re done!” Thea said in a sing-song voice, stepping away from Felicity and taking a picture of her hair from behind to show the blonde her hard work.

“Nice,” Felicity said, looking at it. “Thank you, Thea.”

Thea brushed it off. “I've always wanted a sister with whom I could play dress up and experiment all kinds of hair styles.”

“As if all those times you experimented on me with Mom’s makeup while I was asleep wasn’t enough for you,” Oliver commented, walking up to them.

Felicity’s eyes sparkled at that tidbit of information. “Please tell me you have pictures,” she told Thea.

“Every single one of them,” Thea grinned devilishly. “Saved multiple copies too, since he destroyed whatever he could get his hands on.”

Oliver looked at the ceiling for strength. “I've created a monster by introducing you two, haven’t I?” He heard Diggle chuckle in the background. Bastard, taking joy in his misery.

Thea shoved a bag at his chest. “Go freshen up, change. You look disgusting, and I want to take a family picture of the first ultrasound and you need to look good or I won’t let you stand next to Fee in the pic.”

“Wow, thank you for the love, little sister,” Oliver commented, but followed through her commands. Thea had selected a dark blue button-down shirt for him, pairing it with black pants. When he came out, Thea practically climbed on top of him as she ran her hands through his hair to fix it.

“Much better,” she commented after assessing him with her hands on her hips. “Come here.”

She dragged him over to where Felicity was sitting and made them stand and pose together. Oliver wrapped his arm around her waist while her arm went and clasped his shoulder from behind. The background showed the Starling City skyline through the window, and the basket of cupcakes was visible in one corner of the photograph.

“Say ‘cheese’!” Thea said, and clicked the camera on her cell phone. She grinned at the photo and showed it to Diggle, who nodded his approval. She then showed it to the couple. Oliver beamed at the picture. He had already decided to use that as his phone wallpaper.

Diggle cleared his throat and opened the door. “Ms. Smoak, Mr. Queen, shall we now go see your baby?”

 

* * *

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews feed my muse. Don't forget to let me know what you think. If you have suggestions for the story, don't hesitate to let me know. I'm open to all ideas. :) 
> 
> Love, Cat.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! I have been so busy with school work and then I fractured my arm and couldn't do anything for six weeks.
> 
> Anyway, here's chapter 7!

Predictably, Felicity was right and Thea won the bet.

When the party of four entered the chamber of Dr. Janet Carlyle, a tiny middle-aged woman with frizzy brown hair and kind face looked up at them, startled. “I'm sorry, this is not a fish market. You can’t all be in here,” she said, staring wide-eyed at them.

Felicity stepped forward. “I'm Felicity Smoak. I have the appointment. I'm the mother. Obviously. Since I'm the one getting checked out here.”

“Oliver Queen,” Oliver introduced, extending a hand for her to shake. “I’m the father.”

The doctor levelled her gaze on the other two people in the room, who had taken a place near the wall, Diggle in his normal stoic manner with his hands clasped in front and Thea bouncing with glee on the balls of her feet. “Don’t mind us,” Thea said in a dismissive manner. “I'm the aunt, he’s personal security. We’re here for a bet.”

“Well, I don’t care about that. This is the first prenatal visit and a highly private one, and I cannot allow you to be here.”

Thea looked like she was about to argue, but Felicity stopped her. “I’ll fill you in on what happens. You know I won’t lie.”

Thea grumbled, but let Diggle lead her out. A nurse appeared then with a hospital gown for Felicity. Dr. Carlyle had left the room, letting the nurse proceed with the basics. Oliver sat in one corner of the room to give them the space, smiling at Felicity when she grumbled about changing back into a gown, and taking in the bright and cheery yellow walls of the room and the motivational posters that spoke of the joys of motherhood.

The nurse, Jolene, checked Felicity’s height and weight, noted her pulse and blood pressure (“It’s slightly on the high side, honey. Maybe you should tone down on stressful activities.”), asked her when her last period was and the details of her menstrual cycle (which Felicity answered with red tinted cheeks and a high awareness of Oliver’s presence behind her) and interrogated her as to any previous medical conditions she has had.

“Any allergies?” the plump old woman asked.

“Nuts,” Felicity replied from where she was perched on the examining bed. “I had this horrible experience in college with a pot brownie. My first and last experience with walnuts, or drugs for that matter. My face and hands were swollen. Let me tell you, it was not cool.”

The nurse cracked an amused smile. “Nice to know that. Now back to the important questions: have you had any surgeries?”

“One. I was sixteen and had to have my wisdom teeth removed.” She opened her mouth and used both index fingers to indicate the region. “It left a scar. In my mouth. I have scars in my mouth.”

“Any medicines you take on a regular basis?”

“No. Very few times, if I had a lot of trouble sleeping, I used to take sleeping pills, but I haven’t in quite some time.”

Oliver glanced up at her as she said this, mouth open in shock. He hadn’t known about this, about her needing pills to help her sleep. The women did not notice his reaction, and Nurse Jolene continued with her questions.

“Is there any history of diseases in your family?”

“Not unless you count a broken brain to mouth filter,” her eyes widened in realisation. “It’s not hereditary or something, is it? Can my baby have my foot-in-mouth disease? My baby can’t have my foot-in-mouth disease. It’s not possible, is it?”

“No, sweetie,” Jolene said with a twinkle in her eye. “I'm sure that’s just something unique about you.” She kept the clipboard away and pulled out a small, kidney shaped steel tray with plastic wrapped sterile tools and a syringe, some pads of cotton and a liquid in a bottle. Felicity panicked as she saw them.

“No,” she said with an audible gulp. “I am not letting you come near me with that thing.”

“It’s just for a few blood tests, sweetie,” Jolene said calmly.

Felicity shook her head. “Mm mm, no needles. I hate needles. All pointy things, really. I just... No.”

Oliver jumped forward and took her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him. “Look at me, Felicity. Listen to me.” She levelled her gaze on him, and he spoke softly, enunciating every word properly. “It’s okay, it’s just a small needle. It won’t hurt you. You’ve got me, right?” Felicity nodded. “You know I won’t let anything hurt you. I won’t let anything hurt either of you.”

“And it’s done,” the nurse said, pulling back with the syringe halfway filled with blood, and Felicity realised Oliver had been distracting her while Jolene drew the blood. “Now that didn’t pinch, did it?” She quickly cleaned the area with an anti-septic and put a small band-aid there.

Felicity shook her head, staring at her arm in surprise. Jolene grinned at her. “Maybe your boyfriend will kiss it better.”

Felicity whipped her head up, first staring at the nurse and then at Oliver. He had a glint in his eyes, a mischievous glint that Felicity did not trust. He pulled her arm up to his face and, maintaining eye contact with her, pressed a soft kiss to her palm, and then her wrist, up the length of her arm to the crease of her elbow. She felt her face burning red, and inhaled sharply but shakily. A smug smile crossed Oliver’s face at her reaction.

“Wow,” Jolene said, and the two broke apart. “It’s been a long time since I've seen a man turn a kiss to your hand so hot. Phew!” She fanned herself as she walked away, leaving a blushing Felicity behind.

She cleared her throat. “Thanks for distracting me,” she said. “It’s just...”

“You hate pointy things?” he said cheekily.

Felicity nodded. “Ironic, right, considering the work we do?”

Oliver hummed in response, but was interrupted by the doctor entering.

“So are we ready?” Dr. Carlyle said as she powered on a few machines. The next thirty minutes were spent discussing the pregnancy, all the possible options Felicity would have as to prenatal and postnatal treatments, discussing health problems that either parents had had (Oliver had to rack his brain trying to remember if Tommy had ever mentioned any hereditary conditions in his family), going over a tentative schedule for Felicity’s appointments, and any medicinal drugs that Felicity could take and her diet for the course of her pregnancy.

“Now that we have covered everything, do either of you have any questions?” Dr. Carlyle asked once they were done.

“Just one thing,” Felicity said. “Oliver and I were having an argument earlier. He thinks my muffin top is a baby bump.”

“It has to be a baby bump,” Oliver interjected. “It wasn’t there before.”

“Well,” the doctor said, amused, “it’s too early for a baby bump to start showing, but we can check it out just to confirm.”

She had Felicity lie down, covering her lower body with a sheet before pulling up her gown to expose her abdomen. Her belly was slightly curved below her navel, not that noticeable unless you really looked at it. The doctor pressed the tips of her fingers to it gently first, then with a little more pressure. She moved her fingers across it, checking it.

“Hmm,” she drew out. “Well, this is definitely a... muffin top.”

“Yes,” Felicity pumped her fist in the air. Oliver’s face fell. His lips turned down in a sad pout, his eyes reflecting his disappointment. He looked at Felicity like a kicked puppy, so sad, so dejected. “Looks like Thea and I won the bet,” she said, patting him on the chest.

“If it helps, that muffin top developed because of an increased appetite due to the pregnancy,” Dr. Carlyle offered. “But I can brighten up your day, if you want. Would you like to see your baby?”

They both looked up at her, eyebrows shot up till their hairlines. “You can do that this early?” Oliver asked excitedly. 

“There won’t be much to see right now, I doubt you will be able to see anything more than a blur, but you will be able to hear the heartbeat.”

Oliver turned to Felicity, an almost childlike pleading look on his face. Felicity nodded. “Yes, we would like that.”

The doctor took out a bottle applied a warm gel across Felicity’s belly. She connected a wand like device (called a transducer, Felicity recalled reading online) with the machine with a screen. She placed the device on the smeared portion and manoeuvred it a little, searching. She found the spot, and a blurry black and white image appeared on the screen. A steady rhythmic sound, like the slow beating of a drum, filled the room.

Felicity’s mouth hung open, all breath leaving her, at the sound. “Is that...?” she started, but couldn’t go further. Felicity Meghan Smoak, IT extraordinaire, hacker/vigilante and possessor of a rambling mouth, was rendered speechless.

“That,” Dr. Carlyle said with a soft smile, “is the sound of your baby’s heartbeat.” 

Felicity felt Oliver’s fingers entwine with her own. She turned to face him, and was met with an awestruck expression that she was sure was a mirror of her own. As one, they looked at the screen that showed them the image of the baby.

“I don’t know if you will be able to spot it properly right now, but the baby is over,” she pointed at a region slightly above the centre of the screen, circling it with her finger, “here.”

Oliver leaned forward, eyebrows scrunched up as he focused on the area. “I think I can see it.”

“I can’t,” Felicity complained, squinting.

“It’s in the shape of a kidney bean, isn’t it?” Oliver asked, his mouth dry.

“Very good, yes, Mr. Queen. Would you like me to print a picture?”

“Can you please print multiple copies?”

“Of course. Many parents want to print several copies for home, work, as gift for the grandparents...”

She drifted off as a soft sound similar to a whine escaped Felicity. Oliver looked at her to find silent tears streaming down her face. She wasn’t staring at the screen any longer, but her face was tilted downwards, her eyes closed. Oliver cupped her face in his hands and pulled her up to him, and she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his neck. Not understanding her problem, he simply pulled her closer to himself and rocked her in a soothing motion. Vaguely, he was aware of the doctor leaving the room with a small comment about giving them space, but he focused his attention to the sobbing woman in his arms.

“Felicity, what’s wrong?” he pleaded.

She shook her head as she pressed further into him. “I can’t do this, Oliver,” she said, her voice muffled. “I can’t do this. Please take me home.”

Unable to do anything else, he listened to her. Outside, both Digg and Thea stood up, alarmed at her state, but Oliver shook his head at them, indicating with one single motion that this was not the time to discuss it. Dr. Carlyle came out from an office and handed them an envelope. “The print outs of the ultrasound,” she explained. “The receptionist will be in contact with Ms. Smoak to schedule her next appointment.” 

“Is everything okay?” Thea asked as they sat in Oliver’s Bentley SUV, with Felicity in between the two siblings.

“Yeah,” Felicity said with a tight smile. “I just want to go home.”

Thea perked up at that. “We finished moving all your things to the mansion yesterday. I have a whole tour planned for you. You’re going to love it! Raisa’s been waiting to meet you. We prepared an office for you too where you’ll have the best technology available...”

With Thea still chattering in the background, Felicity leaned against Oliver, resting her head on his shoulder, and closed her eyes.

She woke up just as they were rounding the drive way up to the Queen Manor. Oliver had nudged her awake, and she straightened up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“We’re here,” Thea drew out the words in a song. She hopped out of the car before it even came to a full stop and reached in to pull Felicity out. With a grand flourish of her hands, she gestured towards the house. “Welcome to your new abode, Ms. Smoak.”

Felicity looked apprehensive, and when Oliver got out of the car he placed a hand at the small of her back as a guard opened the door for them and led her inside. A short, stout woman with black hair and the kindest of smiles greeted them in the foyer.

“Raisa,” Oliver said as they approached her, “I would like you to meet Ms. Felicity Smoak. Felicity, this is Raisa – the one woman army who runs this house and practically raised Thea and me.”

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Ms. Smoak,” Raisa said in her soft accented voice. “I trust that the food I sent for you helped you with the sickness?”

Felicity blushed. “Yes, thank you so much for that, Raisa. It was all I was able to eat for a few weeks. And please, call me Felicity.”

“Of course, Miss Felicity. I will go see to it that lunch is ready while you settle into your room.”

Raisa went into one of the corridors, and Thea faced Felicity with a wide grin. “Would you like that tour now?”

Felicity looked around her, taking in the dark wood structure around her, feeling the plush royal blue carpet underneath the soles of the shoes she was sure she had worn in the Glades and would be leaving dirt where she definitely did not want them to. With conscious eyes she took in the golden chandelier, the dark furniture, the stained glass windows covering entire sections of walls, the pair of stairs towering on either side of her... She swallowed. Standing there in her Target jeans and her panda flats, she had never felt more out of place before. This was not her world.

Oliver hung back, hands clasped behind his back as he observed her. He knew that after the mini breakdown she had had earlier in the doctor’s chamber, she needed rest. Not an intimidating tour of the place where she pretty much signed up to stay for the rest of her life.  “Speedy,” he called out, getting his sister’s attention, “Felicity just got back from the hospital. Why don’t we let her rest for now and save the tour for tomorrow?”

Thea blinked and shook her head. “Right. I didn’t think of that.” She linked her arms with Felicity’s and pulled her towards the stairs on the right. “Let’s check out your room.”

Thea led them to a room on the far right side of the particular wing of the house. On the way, Felicity’s eyes roamed over every single painting hanging on the walls, on every single antique and highly expensive looking vase holding fresh exotic flowers on the carved and polished wooden tables, feeling more than seeing the rich velvety tapestries that covered entire sections of the walls.

“This room is the original Master suite, where our great-grandparents had stayed in. This entire section of the house has been empty Mom included the new wing to the house way before I was born. I thought that since this is a fresh new beginning for all of us, you might like to start fresh here. Also, you would be far enough away from the rest of the household, namely me, if things get... loud.”

Felicity blushed red at the insinuation in Thea’s words. The younger Queen smiled at her. “I’ll let you settle in now. Let me or Raisa know if you need anything.”

As Thea walked away, Oliver pushed open the door. He let Felicity enter ahead of him, and heard her breath catch. The room was the embodiment of old money and upper class snobbery. Larger than her entire house, it was round and decorated in shades of light to dark chocolate brown, with cream accents. Heavy velvety drapes covered half the walls from ceiling to floor, while the other half of the room was covered in warm brown wood textured wallpaper. The ceiling, a light cream colour, was uneven, getting lower and lower in round steps from the centre to the edges of the room. A massive chandelier hung right in the centre.  The bed, a massive four-poster, was towards one side of the room, situated on an elevated platform. The sheets were red and cream, with pillows littering the top of it. Beautifully crafted antique tables sat on either side of it. The other side of the room was the seating area. One large plush sofa, along with two single couches surrounded a wood and glass coffee table and faced a large flat screen television. Lamps, mirrors, hangings and other decorations were strategically placed around the room to make it appear full yet have space to manoeuvre. One wall pushed into a large alcove chamber, where a large vanity dresser with a three panelled antique mirror above it stood. On either side of the alcove were two massive doors. Looking down, she saw the same expensive rug as in the rest of the house in a cream colour on the floor.  

“What do you think?” Oliver asked her hesitantly, nervously, as he stepped in behind her. He pushed aside one set of drapes on the rounded wall to reveal another alcove that had floor-length windows and a seating area covered in soft cream sofa cushions. The other set of drapes were pushed to show the most beautifully carved French doors that opened up to a large balcony. “The door to the left of the dresser is the washroom, and on the right is the wardrobe. Most of your things have already been arranged here. Thea wanted to take you shopping, fill the wardrobe with more clothes –”

“Stop,” she said, her voice low. “Please, stop.”

Oliver stopped talking immediately, staring at her with his mouth parted in a mixture of confusion and surprise. Felicity had her eyes squeezed shut, her hands clenched into painful fists and wrapped around her middle. He hurried over to her, his hands grasping hers to uncurl her palms.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

She stepped away from him in a quick, jerky motion, and he dropped his hands to his sides in shock. She opened her eyes and a few drops of tears escaped. “I can’t do this, Oliver. I can’t do this anymore.”

“I don’t understand,” he choked out.

“How stupid were we, to think that this would work out?” she said, her lower lip trembling. “This thing,” she indicated in the general direction of the room, “this whole thing, it cannot happen. I don’t belong here, Oliver. This is not my world. We were fooling ourselves into believing that this would work out.”

“Don’t say that,” he whispered. “Don’t say that about us. About the baby.”

“There is no ‘us’, Oliver!” she cried out. “There is no you and me and us. It was all an illusion. And this is not your baby! You are not the father. Your dead best friend is!”

The force of her words had Oliver taking a step back in shock. He stared at her, his throat clogged with an emotion he couldn’t explain. His chest hurt, and he felt like he couldn’t breathe. With great effort, he managed to force out, “I’ll have Raisa bring your lunch up here,” before leaving the room.

Felicity dragged herself to the bed and fell on top of it, the back of her hand pressing into her mouth to hold back her sobs. Seeing the pain on Oliver’s face had torn her apart. She buried her face in one of the pillows, the satiny soft material tickling her cheeks. The door opened suddenly, and she jerked up, rubbing away any traces of tears from her face, to see Raisa enter with a silver platter of food in her hand.

“Miss Felicity,” she greeted, “Mister Oliver said you were not feeling well, so I got your food upstairs. He also told me to keep mint chocolate chip ice cream for you for dessert.”

“Thank you, Raisa,” Felicity said, and the woman walked over to the bed and placed the tray on the side table. She turned to Felicity and took her hands in her own, caressing them in a motherly manner.

“You have been crying,” she stated.

“Yeah,” Felicity looked down. “Oliver and I had a... disagreement. I said hurtful things to him.”

“He really cares about you.” When Felicity looked up her in surprise, she continued. “Just as you care about him. I raised that boy, my darling. I know him better than he knows himself. And my Oliver really cares about you. I could see it in his face, in his eyes, downstairs. He had his eyes only for you. And you – I saw the way you looked at him. You felt so small, so out of place in the hall downstairs, surrounded in the riches, but when you looked at him, you lit up. You forgot where you were and who you were with, and just saw him.”

Felicity gaped at the older woman, who only smiled at her. She let go of Felicity’s hands and sat down on the bed beside her. “Right after Mister Merlyn passed away, I feared for my boy. He always had a good heart, but it was so fragile. I worried that he would become the same boy he was when we got him back from that island – so hurt, so broken. But then he phoned me a few days later, told me he had a friend who was sick and couldn’t eat anything and what could he do for her, and I suspected what was happening. Then after the funeral, he phoned me again, and he told me about this girl, that she was carrying his child, and he sounded so happy.” She stood up to leave. “You made my boy happy again, Miss Felicity.”

Felicity felt her heart beat faster as she processed what Raisa told her. Just as the older woman was leaving, she stopped her. “Raisa, can you please tell Oliver to come back up here?”

Raisa smiled at her. “Of course, Miss Felicity.”

It wasn’t even a minute later that Oliver entered the room. He took a few tentative steps inside the door, but Felicity held out a hand, silently inviting him to come to her, and he hurried over to her. Just as he took her hand and pulled her to him, she broke down, burying her face into his chest as he banded his arms around her, holding her to him in a deathly grip. “I'm sorry,” she mumbled, her voice heavy with tears.

“Shh, I'm here,” he whispered into her head, one of his palms curling into her hair just below her neck while the other rubbed soothing circles into her lower back.

“I'm so sorry I said those things,” she said, pulling back and looking up at him. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just... in the hospital today, when we saw the baby, all I could think of was how Tommy won’t get to see his child, and he died knowing that. That my baby would grow up not knowing their father. And it hurt so badly, Oliver.”

 “Felicity...” his voice broke as he held her tighter against himself. “I was so shocked when I found out you were pregnant. I didn’t even know that you and Tommy knew each other. And then he made me promise him that I would look after you two, and for two weeks, up to the funeral, I did that. I honoured his last wish. But then we had that moment in your living room that day, and I realised I wasn’t just doing this for Tommy. I was doing this for me.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but he shushed her with a finger to her lips. “Hear me out, okay?” She nodded, and he continued. “I am a damaged man, Felicity. I spent five years on an island that was literally named Purgatory. When I returned, I returned a soulless man. Cruel. Heartless. Incapable of loving anyone. I was distrustful, suspicious of everyone around me. But then I met you. You were the first person I saw as a... person.”

“I was chewing a pen,” she said, trying to lighten the mood.

“It was red,” he said with a burning intensity in his eyes. Her lips parted in surprise. “With you bright pink lips and golden hair and that red pen, you brought colours and light into my darkened world. You started to heal me, to fix me. And after the Glades fell, after Tommy, I realised that the only thing keeping me together was you. Not Laurel, not my mother, not even my need to save this city. Only you and the baby. If it wasn’t for the two of you, I probably would have bolted off to the island.”

“I'm glad you didn’t,” she whispered, her hands travelling from his back to his chest, flattening over his hard pecs, moving up his neck to cradle his face in a move that he had done with her so many times before. Her thumbs mapped his cheekbones, his rough stubble scratching at her palms, and he closed his eyes, sighing in contentment.

“I'm glad too,” he said. He opened his eyes and looked right into hers. The hand at her lower back moved forward to cup her belly, and he looked down at the place. She moved her hands to his bulging biceps, but kept her gaze fixed on his face. “When you agreed to let me step in as the father, you have no idea how happy you made me, Felicity. For the first time in a very long time, since even before the island, I felt whole again. You were giving me a piece of Tommy back, but you were also giving me something I never even knew I needed – a family. My father is dead, my best friend is dead, my mother is in prison for mass murder and my sister is tethering on the edge of addiction. You're my only constant, Felicity. And the baby... right from the start I thought of her as my own. Especially today, in the OB’s chamber, when I saw her for the first time, heard her heartbeat, I fell in love with her so hard... That baby is _mine_. Never doubt that, Felicity.”

Tears streamed down her face and she nodded. The fact that Oliver Queen, the man who loathed talking about his feelings, had given her that long emotional speech had moved something in her. And he had accepted her child, loved him as his own, and that filled her heart with so much emotion that her chest heart.

“Who would have thought Oliver Queen could be so poetic?” she joked, and he chuckled. “Next thing we know, you’ll start writing sonnets in my name. Someone should warn Shakespeare. Is this some new talent you acquired on the island?”

Oliver laughed, and she grinned. “No, this is something I acquired after meeting you. I read _Hamlet_ , you know, after our first meeting.”

“No!” she mock-gasped.

“Mm hm,” he nodded, pleased with himself. “I also read _Julius Ceaser, Merchant of Venice_ and _As You Like It._ ”    

“Someone alert the media. This will be breaking news.”

He laughed and leaned forward to grab her tray of food from the side table. “Come on, let’s eat.”

He shifted both of them so that they sat comfortably, cross-legged on the bed, and removed the cloche, revealing a large bowl of steaming hot aglio-olio spaghetti pasta and crispy garlic bread. Her stomach grumbled as the aroma of fresh parsley and garlic and olive oil hit her nostrils. Oliver dug the fork in the bowl, twirling the noodles around it and held it up for her to eat. She wrapped her mouth around the offered food, and moaned.

“Good?” he asked, amused.

“So good,” she agreed from around the mouthful of pasta.

He nodded and, maintaining eye contact with her, used the same fork to scoop some of the noodles and popped them in his own mouth. Felicity’s gaze followed the movement, and she licked her suddenly dry lips.

“Hmm, I agree. It’s really good,” he said in a teasing tone, aware of her reaction to him.

She pinched his arm. “Hey, feed the pregnant lady first.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” he grinned, feeding her another forkful. She hummed her approval, and grabbed another fork, and scooped some pasta onto a piece of garlic bread and took a bite of it. Oliver quirked an eyebrow at that, but she held it up for him to try and he too liked it.

 They fed each other till the tray had been polished off. Felicity spread her legs and leaned back on her arms as Oliver set the empty platter aside. She sighed in contentment. “I could get used to this. Satin sheets, lunch in bed, being spoon-fed by a hot man...”

“Being treated like a Queen,” Oliver said.

“Oh my God, was that a pun?! Did you just crack a joke?!”

Oliver smiled and got up, holding a hand out for her. “Come on, let’s give you that tour.”

She accepted his outstretched hand and pulled herself up. “Do I get some of the mint chocolate chip ice cream Raisa told me about?”

“Of course,” he said fondly, leading her out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To get regular updates of the story, follow me on tumblr @ multi-fandom-crazy-fangirl. 
> 
> Don't forget to let me know what you think!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your lovely reviews on the previous chapter. For those of you who inquired about my arm, it's healing well right now. My writing's become slow, since I can't type all that easily right now, but I have the next chapter for you! 
> 
> XO, Cat!

Queen Consolidated reopened two weeks later. In those two weeks, Oliver and Felicity settled into a comfortable rhythm with each other and with everyone else in the mansion. They woke up in the mornings tangled in each other, basked in the silence and each other’s company for a few moments before getting ready for the day, separately, and going down for breakfast, together. There they would be greeted by Thea and Raisa, who would place a glass of fresh juice for Felicity in front of her – a different fruit every day so she wouldn’t miss her daily dose of coffee so much. Breakfast would be a cheery and fun affair, with a whole lot of female bonding between Felicity and Thea, who would together gang up on Oliver, teasing the hell out of him. The couple would then leave for QC in the spacious Bentley SUV, setting up and preparing for the big open. They had lunch together every day in his office, sometimes joined by Diggle. They left for the Queen Manor – home, she would correct herself – at around 5 p.m. and spent the rest of the evening together with Thea and occasionally Roy.

They spent the time getting to know each other – really getting to know each other. Over moments spent in the sprawling grounds with plates of tiny muffins – they were a popular craving of hers – and buttered scones, or in the gazebo by the tiny duck pond, or simply sitting on their balcony, gazing at the twilight, they discovered tit-bits about each other that they never knew before. Felicity’s favourite colour, as he got to know, wasn’t pink or yellow or any of the bright colours he generally associated her with, but a deep emerald green. (She was blushing as she revealed that.)

(He didn’t mention that his favourite colour was the blue of her eyes.)

She found out he loved to cook, something he picked up on the island, where he had to cook his catch or eat it raw, but hadn’t had much of a chance to cook once back home. They dropped that conversation when she felt queasy at the mention of raw meat. He also knew different styles of hair braiding courtesy Thea Queen, and he did a gorgeous waterfall braid on hers that left her feeling like a princess.

The press conference conducted by the QC PR team had been awkward to say the least. A week before QC was set to reopen, the PR team released a statement confirming the status of Oliver and Felicity’s relationship, mentioned the baby, and that the expecting couple requested privacy. Yet there were several reporters present at the scene, thrusting their mikes into Felicity and Oliver’s faces, asking questions, asking about the pregnancy and in general making her feel uncomfortable. Diggle had a hard time keeping the reporters at bay, so much so that they had to call in additional re-enforcements in the security team.

The internet had been swarmed with hate towards Felicity. News channels and QC workers in general speculated the reasons for Felicity becoming Head of IT Department. Twitter had some pretty hurtful messages about her going on her knees for the job, and then about her tying the man down for his money. Some even said that the baby might not be Oliver’s, which hit a little too close to home for Felicity, and Thea had to drag her away from her phone and tablet and distract her with online shopping for maternity clothes.

The inevitable wardrobe malfunction happened the morning QC opened. When Oliver came out of the washroom, he expected to see Felicity at the dresser, finishing getting ready for day. Instead, he found her on the floor of the wardrobe, towel still wrapped around her body, crying as she held a black lacy garment in her hand.

Oliver knelt beside her and took her face in his hands. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“My bra doesn’t fit me anymore,” she moaned.

He looked down and saw that the garment she held was a scrappy piece of bra, skimpier than he would have expected Felicity to prefer. Not that he had been imagining Felicity in her underwear, but he totally had been. It also did not escape his notice that she was sitting on the ground in a towel, possible, highly probably, not wearing anything underneath. He’s pretty sure the towel wasn’t exposing more skin than the tiny gold dress during the Dodger mission had, but he had a hard time focusing on the problem at hand when he could see down her cleavage with just the correct angle of tilt of his head.

“My bra doesn’t fit,” she continued “and now I can’t get dressed because my breasts hurt, and we’ll end up being late on the very first day, and people already think badly of me and now they’re going to think I'm taking advantage of my position and all the tweets will get worse...”

She broke off with a sob, and Oliver forced her to look at him. “Hey, Felicity, it’s alright. No one is going to say anything bad about you. I’ll put an arrow through them if they do.”

Felicity made a sound of protest, but he shushed her. “And I know you can hack into any social website and delete any defaming comments and cause their servers to crash, and I will support you. Now get off the ground,” he pulled her up and led her to the bed. “Wait here.”

He left her sitting there, and not more than five minutes later Thea entered the room with a flourish, brandishing an underwear hamper in her hand. “Never let it be said that Thea Queen does not come to the rescue of the needy.”

Felicity tilted her head, and Thea opened the bag and dumped all the contents on the bed next to Felicity. “Ollie said you had a bra disaster. I have the perfect temporary solution.”

She had got at least twenty different bra extensions for her. There were all kinds of them – lace, satin, cotton, single hook, double hook, triple hook, thin, thick, black, white, nude and in more colours. “Let’s see which one works.”

In two minutes Thea had the perfect extension for Felicity, and she was dressed and ready for the day in fifteen minutes.

“You and me,” Thea told her as they walked down the stairs arm in arm, “we’re going shopping today. I don’t care what plans you already have with my brother, you're cancelling them.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Felicity laughed and pulled her into a hug. “Thank you, Thea. I don’t know what I would have done today without you.”

“Hey,” Thea said warmly, sinking into the embrace, “that’s what family is for, right?”

Felicity squeezed her eyes to fight back the tears that threatened to surface, and held the younger woman a bit tighter.

 

\-------

 

After the earthquake, the QC board opened up the shares to the market. With the help of Walter, who was now the CFO of Starling City Bank, Oliver was able to secure enough aid from the bank to buy 30% of the shares, raising the amount owned by the Queen family to 60% of the total. A mysterious buyer had beaten him to the remaining 40%.

When they returned to QC, they discovered the identity of the anonymous buyer – Stellmore International, and its VP Isabel Rochev. As they travelled in their SUV over to QC, Felicity gave Oliver a rundown on Rochev.

“She’s the Vice President of Acquisitions at SI,” she said, handing him a manila envelope. “I ran a full background check on her. She was born in Russia, adopted in the US, MBA from Harvard. There’s not much about her online, and I don’t really trust her. She seems shady.”

When Oliver opened the file, a dark-haired beauty with a twisted smile and evil glint in her eye stared back at him. “She looks angry in every photo,” Felicity commented, “Which makes her all the more of a suspicious person. Who chooses to look angry in every photo? Photographs stick, and get pasted on the internet and social media, and you don’t want to leave an angry looking legacy behind for future generations to remember you by.”

Oliver gave her a half-amused smile, and she faltered in her ramble. “Maybe she just doesn’t like cheese,” she shrugged. “Which is understandable, because have you seen that waistline? She probably lives on kale.” Both Oliver and Diggle huffed out a laugh.   

Isabel Rochev was Hell on High Heels, Felicity thought. From the moment she entered the 31st floor of the QC building which held the CEO’s office and the board rooms, she had started undermining Oliver’s right to the company. She had marched into the room oozing confidence, her long stiletto heels clicking sharply against the tiled floor, her assistant hurrying behind her, carrying all her paperwork and in general looking frightened of his boss.

The board members and Oliver and Felicity got up from their seats as she entered the room. She held out a hand to Oliver. “Isabel Rochev. Sorry I'm late.”

Oliver shook her hand. “Late? Late for, what? You're not supposed to be here, Miss Rochev.”

She sat down with a flourish in the only empty chair – across the table at the other end from Oliver. “I'm here to take over your company.”

“I don’t think that’s going to be happening, Miss Rochev,” Oliver commented. “I own 60% of the shares, which is a majority.”

“You own 40%, actually. The remaining 20% of the shares are still in your mother’s name. Which makes the two of us equals.”

“Irrelevant. The company remains under the Queen family, and I am the representative of the family.”

“And that means you’re going to be the CEO? You’ve already appointed your girlfriend as Head of one department, and what were her qualifications, besides an abundance of short skirts and a bun in the oven? Next thing we know you’ll appoint your mistress as your assistant.” She turned to Felicity. “Honey, I should warn you, men like these don’t care about family. You may have tied him down for now, but as soon as you’re bloated, he’s going to go chasing after the next short skirt.”

Oliver rose from his seat, his chair falling on the ground with the force of it, his hands clenched in suppressed rage. His eyes were burning with fury as he gritted his teeth and forced himself to calm down. Felicity laid a hand on his arm, which helped him clear his head.

“Let me make this clear once and for all,” he said in a steely voice, “Miss Smoak is the best employee Queen Consolidated has seen in her field, and she is highly over-qualified for her job. I will not tolerate a word against her. Should you, or anyone else for that matter ever dare to insult her again, I will not hesitate before calling security to have you escorted out.”

The silence that followed his declaration was broken by the sound of shattering glass and Diggle’s loud “Get Down!” Oliver’s hand immediately sought out Felicity, and he pushed her to the ground, covering her body with his own. Gunshots rang out in the room, and Oliver looked up just in time to see four hooded men stalk into the room with machine guns strapped to their chests. The board members were screaming as they tried to run past the men, and one of the older, white-haired members, was shot in his leg. He went down with a pained cry, and Felicity stared at Oliver, wide-eyed.

With quick, sure movements Diggle took down one of the armed men and shot another in the arm. Oliver pushed Felicity under the desk and motioned to her to move towards the windows. With one quick move he pulled away the leg of one of the chairs and stood up and threw it at one of the remaining two attackers with perfect aim. It hit the man in his stomach.

Felicity had crawled her way to the ceiling-to-floor window and Oliver wrapped an arm around her, the other wrapping around the blinds’ cord, and the two of them crashed through the window. Felicity screamed, her face digging into Oliver’s neck with her eyes screwed shut, and felt another impact as they crashed through the windows two stories down and landed onto one of the executive floors.

Felicity scrambled onto her knees and heaved, her arm clutching her stomach, and Oliver was there at her side in an instant, pushing back her curtain of pale hair to reveal even paler skin. She leaned into him as she got her nausea under control, and he held her to the safety of his own body, one hand rubbing soothing circles on her back. He placed a gentle kiss to her hair as she calmed down.

“I know you tend to revert back to the old stone savage days,” she said between breathes, “but I am never, ever indulging in Tarzan and Jane fantasies for you.”

Oliver let out a surprised chuckle, and she looked up at him with a tired smile before sagging against him, letting him support her weight. His phone vibrated in his jacket, and he pulled it out, putting Digg on hands-free mode.

“You guys okay?” he asked as soon as Oliver answered.

“Yeah,” Oliver answered. “We’re two floors down from you. Felicity needs some cool water.”

“I’ll be right down.”

Oliver shifted Felicity in his arms and got up, carrying her. She let out a short gasp, but otherwise did not protest, letting him carry her over to one of the sofas on that floor. He had just set her down when Digg came running down the stairs, carrying a bottle of cool mineral water. He opened the bottle and handed it to Felicity, who chugged half of it down in one go.

“Hey,” he greeted them. “The ‘Hoods’ are down. Lance is on his way here. You'll want to be upstairs.”

“In a moment,” Oliver replied. He looked at Felicity, who was now sitting up instead of lying faintly on the sofa. “Better?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I just need to lie down. For hours. Or days. As far as first days at the new job go, this one was pretty epic.”

Oliver hummed his agreement and turned to Digg with a contemplative look. “Things are getting worse. I need to get back on the streets from tonight.”

Digg pushed away the ends of his jacket as his hands settled on his hips. “I agree with you, man, but we’re in no position to do this alone. And it’s not going to get any easier in the coming months.”

“I know, Digg. I know. But we need to do something, or this city will go to crap.”

“We could bring someone in,” Felicity said, drawing their attention to herself, “because I know just the right person for it.”

 

\---------

 

Roy had just left Verdant when he heard a woman scream. Without a second thought he ran towards the source of the sound. Turning up a corner, he saw two men crowding a woman into the dark alley wall as she clutched her bag with trembling hands.

“Hey,” Roy yelled.

“Fuck off, Harper,” the taller of the two men, the one with dark hair in a dirty beanie said, just sparing a glance at him.

 _Oh, no you don’t_ , Roy thought as he charged at the muggers. He pushed the men off the girl, yelling a simple command of “Run!” at her before engaging the two men. He grabbed the shorter red-haired man in a vice like grip and slammed him into the wall, using the leverage to kick back Beanie when he came running at him. Still holding Ginger against the wall with one hand, he punched Beanie in the face. A horrible crunching sound let him know that he had broken the man’s nose, and Beanie slumped on the ground, unconscious. With another quick motion, he slammed Ginger onto the ground, knocking him out too. He stood back from the two slumped bodies, breathing hard.

“Roy Harper,” a deep, distorted voice said, and Roy whirled around. Standing behind him was Starling City’s very own guardian angel, the Vigilante, the very man Roy had been seeking for the past few weeks.   

“I've been looking for you,” Roy said, pushing his hood down as he walked towards the Arrow.

Oliver held up a hand for him to stop. “I know,” he said, his electronic voice hiding his identity.

Roy shoved his hands in his pockets awkwardly. “Since you saved my life, I've been looking for a way to help you.”

“I know. I've been a little reluctant to bring you in, but I need your assistance now.”

“Tell me.”

“Right now... I have more pressing matters to attend to. I need you to be my eyes and ears in the city. Anything happens, you contact me. Do not engage. I will be there as soon as I can.”

“How can I help if I don’t engage?”

“I can’t have you risk your life anymore that you already do.”

“Yeah, well, news flash: I live in the Glades,” Roy said with an angry jerk of his shoulders. “I'm already in danger all the time.”

“Not like this,” Oliver said. He was silent for a moment, thinking. “Think of it as a probationary clause. We’ll see how you do right now and then I’ll bring you in completely.”

Roy let out an angry huff, but nodded. “I can deal with that. But how am I supposed to contact you?”

“With this,” Oliver held out one hand, and in the green leather covered palm rested a small red arrow. Roy took it and inspected it. “It has a sensor that sends a radio signal from it to me. You stick it in the wall, and I will get the co-ordinates to wherever you need me to be.”

Roy nodded and pocketed the arrow. “Do you have a name or something, other than what the media calls you?”

“You can call me the Arrow.”   

 

\------------

         

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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> 
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**Author's Note:**

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